> Fallout Equestria: Friendships
>  by DerpyDaringDitzyDoo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 Out of the Rabbit Hole...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know, looking back on my time as a town guard, I had just about the easiest life the wasteland would allow. It was an easy job, decent pay, and I even a two-bit shack to call home. Sure occasionally I had to persuade an angry raider or two that they should leave, and even a Manticore this one time. But being a pegasus meant most ponies avoided you like a plague, making my job even easier.

See the thing about my little town, Desert Springs, was that we had what few wasteland towns did: clean water. And lots of it. Apparently before the war, there was a water-talisman plant or something nearby, so we actually have 4 perfectly working talismans. Of course the general public only knew about two because the mayor kept the other two hidden and only we guards knew about them.

I may brag about how me and Sandy kept the town safe, but honestly that little thank you goes out to the surrounding gangers. Because we had so much clean water, a lot of gangs tried to move in. But when they fought over us, we made them a deal: we would willingly provide them with water if they kept all the raiders and slavers away. Then I worked the four biggest gangs against each other. I “secretly” met with each of their leaders, telling them that I heard the other gang leaders make a vow that they would all attack the first gang that tried to attack us. And with each gang thinking the other three would work together, they were all too scared to bother us.

The more I think about it, the more I miss how good we had it. Makes me wonder why I left in the first place.

“Those two are at it again.”

Oh that’s right, now I remember…
_____________________________________________________________________________	

I pulled my head up from the table in our little office. It was just a closet at the back of the general store barely big enough for a table and two chairs, but for Sandy and I it was still something to be proud of. Besides it always made you feel more awesome when you told somepony to meet you in your office.

I looked at Sandy with sleepy eyes and a scowl. “Do you mind? I’m trying to get a nap in before I have to meet with that Red Tails jackoff.”

“Not my problem, you’re the one who volunteered for that. Those two are at it again, and it’s your turn.” She swatted the back of my head with a tail as she walked past me to sit in the other chair.

“That’s just because he seems happier when he sees me instead. And that’s so not true, I had to deal with them yesterday.” I put my saddlebags on as I talked anyways, knowing I would feel bad if I didn’t do it.

She sighed as she rested her head and forelegs on the table. Why did she look so tired? “I know, but would you do it anyways? Please?”

I smiled and nuzzled her foreleg. “Like you even needed to ask twice. Hey are you okay? You look pretty worn out.”

“Yeah, just same old family stuff. Lily still wants to be a guard with us, and my dad is starting to agree with her. She’s my only lil’ sis you know? I’m just worried.”

“Well this probably isn’t what you want to hear, but maybe they’re right?  I mean this isn’t exactly a very dangerous job. Besides I’ll be there to protect her if something bad does happen.”

I stood on my hindlegs behind her and struck a fearless pose, before she once again smacked my head with her tail. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” She said with a snicker.

She let out another sigh before continuing. “Okay fine you win, but she’s gonna play by my rules and follow my example, not yours. I’d prefer it if she never tried to wrestle with a manticore.” She flashed a wry smile before hiding it behind a hoof.

I giggled and bopped her on the nose. “I so saw that. Besides it’s not like I planned that, but it totally worked! Now then, since that’s decided, what’s really bothering you? Because I know something small like that wouldn’t have you this down.”

She looked conflicted between wanting to spill everything, and wanting to hide and let the problem solve itself. Eventually she sunk even lower into her chair and looked out the door. 

“Listen I’ve just got a really bad feeling about all of this. The Red Tails are nothing to joke about, and the fact that Red Baron is taking an interest in you worries me.”

Now that got my attention. “Why would that worry you? I mean yeah sure he’s pretty creepy and all but…”

“I know, I know.” She interrupted as she looked back at me. “Just promise you’ll be careful around him, please?”

“Okay mom, I promise.” I gave her a quick hug before trotting to the door. “I’ll go take care of those two, and then I’ll be at Town Hall to meet with ‘Red Creeper’. You just make sure you’re ready for tonight!”

I hurried out while enjoying the confused expression on her face. I swear sometimes that filly was so busy worrying about everypony else that she even forgot her own birthday. I decided if I was going to deal with the most annoying two mares the Wasteland ever allowed to live, I deserved a Sparkle Cola~.  One nice thing about having an office in the town store meant I was never far away from them.

While I stood in line and fantasized about how good my soda tasted, I couldn’t help but listen in to the stallion in line two spots in front of me.

The buck stood about a head taller than me, like most ponies did. He had a blue coat and a surprisingly well kept (by the Wasteland standards at least) brown mane and tail. I tried to get a look at his Cutie Mark (That’s totally what I was doing, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise) but it was covered by his weird worn armor. I say it was weird because it looked almost like it had a saddle quite firmly attached right behind his shoulders.

“Is this going to be all for you sir?” Asked Mr. General in his usual hoarse, but sweet tone.

“Actually I was wondering if you had any dolls? Or maybe dresses for fillies?”  I nearly choked on my drink at that. He said it so nonchalantly too, like that’s just something you should hear every Wastelander ask for! I looked around the room to check, but no he definitely was by himself.

While I sat back and thought about why he would ask for such a thing, the colt in line in front of me didn’t have such reservations. He burst out laughing as he rolled on the floor around the food he was buying. “Dolls? Wow mister you sure you’re a stallion? And dresses? That’s pretty kinky if you ask me!”

I shot him a hard glare that quickly shut him up. Good colt, respect the mare that can geld you. I looked back to the front, but the stallion didn’t even pay him any mind. Probably not the first time he’s been talked about like that.

Mr. General thought for a second before shaking his head. “No sir can’t say that I do own any dresses. But I do happen to have an old doll behind the counter. Quite a few ponies have been trying to get it from me, but I’ve got to price it pretty high since it’s pre-war, and still in good condition.” He rambled on for a few seconds while he fished it out from behind his ‘counter of secrets’ as I like to call it.

Wait… doll? He’s going to sell it!

The blue stallion looked at it for a moment before agreeing to the rather high price of 60 caps. Well there it goes, into his saddlebags where I’ll never see it again. I was going to give it to Lily as a present, but saving that many caps is hard when you make as little as I do. After he left, the colt in front of me nervously gestured for me to go ahead of him so I skulked up to the counter with my head hung low.

“Gee I’m awfully sorry about that Miss Updraft, I know you’ve been trying to save up for that. I just got so excited to hear someone finally ask about it I couldn’t help myself.”

“No no, don’t worry about it. You were just doing what any good businesspony would do.” I knew it was true, but I still couldn’t help but say it with a sigh. Oh well no point in moping about it, so I set the Sparkle Cola~ on the counter with a smile. “This is all for me today. Two caps right?”

I began digging through my bag to find them when he held up a hoof. “Don’t worry about it, this one is on me. Consider it a bonus for always making us so safe.”

“Aww ever the gentlestallion. I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you next time I see Mayor Laps.”

He blushed and laughed sheepishly as I trotted out of the store with my Sparkle Cola~ tucked under a wing.I screwed the lid back on so I could save the rest of it for Sandy’s birthday party tonight, and I certainly didn’t want to risk it breaking in my bag.

As I walked through the town I couldn’t help but enjoy the nice weather: it was pretty much as sunny as the wasteland got, a nice breeze to keep you cool, and even the cloud cover was breaking in a few places to give us a glimpse of that beautiful blue sky. Guess it was a bit too windy up there for the Pegasi to keep the clouds together. If you were patient and you watched closely enough you could occasionally see the black dot of a Pegasus race across one of the gaps.

I stopped as I remembered I could be up there with them. That is if it wasn’t for my fear of heights. Don’t get me wrong, I love flying and I like to think I’m pretty good at it. I just get really dizzy if I fly much higher than a pony’s head. Well that and they probably wouldn’t want anything to do with a wastelander like myself anyways. I’ve only met one Dashite before and he didn’t seem to care much for the ‘Grand Pegasus Enclave’. He said the only reason they’re so “Grand” is because they’re standing on top of the working Pegasi and the Wastelanders like us. 

A familiar noise shook me from my thoughts as I realized just where I was. It was a noise everyone in town had grown to despise, and even the local wildlife ran from. It sounded like broken glass being scratched against a chalkboard while someone shoved razorblades in your ears. The sound of Red Rose laughing.

As I rounded the familiar corner for the third time this week I was greeted by the sight of the Rose Sisters bickering in the middle of the street. Again. “Alright everypony let’s all calm down and handle this like the mature ponies we are.”

White Rose, who stood roughly to my chest with a green coat and white mane, nearly exploded at the notion of her older sister being mature. “How can you say that! You don’t even know what she did to me! It was horrible! Atrocious even!”

I sat down and set my soda on the ground beside me. This was going to be a long day. “Alright White, what was it this time?”

“I told you not to call me that! Ahem… so there I was just minding my own business, innocently taking care of my beautiful flowers as I sung a lovely song.”

Red Rose stepped up and cut her off. “And by lovely song you mean that shrieking noise you were assaulting our neighbors with?” Red Rose was one of the tallest ponies I had ever seen with a green coat and red mane. As she snickered beside me White continued her story ignoring her older sister’s comments. 

“But alas! As I was watering my gorgeous flowers, the heat of the day began to get to my head. Oh how I longed for my lost hat! I had searched high and low for it’s cool comfort, but I had yet to find it. Until today… when I looked across the street to see her! She was wearing my hat! And smiling at me like she was innocent of the horrible crimes against me!”

By this point my eye was twitching and I could feel my sanity slipping away. “That’s what this is all about? Are you kidding me?”

“Do not trivialize this as if it is a small affair! She stole my property and I want it back! You’re the town guard, arrest her or something!” 

“I can’t just go around arresting ponies whenever somepony says they stole something. Do you have any proof that she stole your hat?” Just a little longer Updraft, then you can take another nice, long, nap. I kept repeating that to myself even know I knew it wasn’t true. After this I had to meet with Red Baron, then I promised to help Lily practice her knife-fighting, and then I had a party to finish preparing. 

“Proof? What more proof do you need? She’s wearing my hat right now! Now I demand you arrest her or I’ll take this up with the mayor herself!” Oh I’m sure she’d just love for me to pass this on to her… “You hear that you criminal? I’m going to get my hat back no matter what it takes!”

Red Rose held the hat in her hooves as she feigned an innocent expression. “Why my dear, do you mean this hat? Well I hate to part with such a cherished possession of mine, but of course you can have it. Why didn’t you simply ask in the first place?”

I decided to leave before White exploded into another fit of rage. No sense in having your eardrums ruptured if you can avoid it. I got about halfway through the town when I passed by the local bar. I never cared for the place, my god-father was too much of an alcoholic for me to have a taste for the stuff. Still it was a fun place to hang out on special occasions. Plus it was where Lily worked, and seeing her always made my day just a little bit brighter. 

And it was with that thought in mind that I quickly grew to anger when I saw her out in the street. She was being pushed back and forth between two drunk gangers, and of course the nearby spineless townsfolk were too scared to do anything about it. I thought I heard one of them shouting about being overcharged, but the rest of what he was going to say got lost when I slammed him through a nearby wall.

The other ganger wearing a lot of spikes decided he was going to try and fight me with his knife. It was a cute little thing, probably four or five inches long, with a pathetic attempt at an engraving on the handle of his Cutie Mark. How sweet, his mommy must have made it for him.

I turned to face Lily after ensuring the spiky-haired ganger wasn’t a threat. “You okay Lily? They didn’t hurt you or anything right?”

“No I’m fine, but don’t you think that,” she pointed to the pony shaped hole in the wall beside me, “was a little excessive?”

“What, no way. I was doing the guy a favour. See now when he comes to with a nasty hangover, he’ll be so focused on the pain in his back that he’ll totally forget about his headache.”

“I pray to Celestia that you never become a doctor.” Despite how hard she was trying to be serious I could see a smile coming on.

“Oh come on, I totally have a one-hundred percent satisfaction rate! Hah beat that little missy.”

“Hey dun’ ignore me! I’m gonna cut yous up for hurtin mah pal!” I jumped to the side as the rapidly sobering ganger swung at where I was just standing.

“Oh you wanna play? Okay then; pay attention Lily, looks like you’re getting that lesson a little early!” I pulled out my trusty wooden practice knife and grinned around the handle. I used it to practice with Lily by putting red paint on the edge to simulate injuries whenever I struck her.

I chuckled on the inside as Lily actually pulled out a notepad and coal stick as the ganger charged at me. I ducked under his clumsy slash and gave him a mock cut on the right side of his neck.

“Woohoo Updraft one, dickbag ganger zero!” Lily cheered from the sidelines. Her shouts fueled my opponent’s rage as he started swinging madly at me. I dodged and weaved between his attacks, offering counter swings at every opportunity and covering him in paint. “Updraft behind you!”

The second ganger jumped on my back from behind and dragged me to a chokehold on the ground. At least I bet that’s what he imagined he was doing as he struggled with his friend on ground stirring up quite a dust cloud. After the dust settled they were on top of each other in rather promiscuous positions. 

One angry cursing fit later and the two of them were back to fighting me. It was a bit harder keeping up with multiple opponents, but I quickly wore them down as the bruises and red paint started covering more of them then their natural colors. They panted and groaned in a heap in the street, so I decided they probably were done fighting for the day.

“And that Lily concludes our lesson for today. Don’t forget to do your homework and study for the test tomorrow.” I adopted the most studious pose I could as I started walking back in the direction of town hall. Lily followed close behind as she raved about how dumb I made them look. 

While I usually didn’t like getting such praises, I never minded it when it came from Lily. Her and Sandy were the closest things I’ve ever had to siblings, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

After a brief walk we came to the large wooden doors of an old hotel. After a little TLC the ponies who settled this town decades ago turned it into a proper meeting hall. The outside of the building was painted red, the paint faded and chipped. The doors squeaked, the roof leaked, and it looked like a complete mess in general, but we we’re proud of it. It was a testament to what ponies could achieve together in such a hellish world. That even after The Last Day and pony society was destroyed in the blink of an eye, we will still unite and take strength in each other.

I had to part ways with Lily seeing as she was still supposed to be working the bar, but not before I gave her a hug and a few clues as to what I had planned for the coming party. She ran off giggling like a filly as I chuckled and walked into the foyer of the town hall. I was immediately tackled and pushed into a small side room with a hoof over my mouth.

I smacked the hoof away that was covering my mouth and was about to give my attacker a wing shaped bruise when I noticed it was Sandy! Briefly I noted that Mayor Laps was here as well, looking pale even for her old age. “Hey what was that for?”

Sandy put her hoof back over my muzzle as she wore the most serious look I’ve ever seen on her. “Shut up or they’ll hear you!”

“They? Who’s they? What’s going on?” I was starting to get a little worried when they both hesitated to answer.

“It’s Red Baron. He’s here for you, says he won’t leave unless you come with him.” I stared at the mayor as I realized why she was so pale. She would never give me up, but we couldn’t afford to fight against a gang like the Red Tails. Oh this wasn’t good at all. “I stalled him as much as I could, telling him I wasn’t sure of where you are at the moment. But he’ll only wait so long, and you know how prone to violence he is when he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“But why me! What did I do to make that creep so obsessed? Why couldn’t it be that guy from the Green Rangers? At least he was attractive…”

“And probably twenty years older than you.” Sandy deadpanned. What a dream killer. “Listen to me Updraft, we have to get you out of here now. If he finds you he’ll burn the whole town down to get you. I’ll come up with an excuse for why you aren’t here and buy you as much time as possible.”

“Wait... leave? But... this is my home. I’ve never left Desert Springs before, I can’t just leave like that! I-I won’t just run away and leave you all to fight my problems!” I felt like crying, like running home and pretending none of this ever happened. I’d take a nap and have a nice dream of flying high in the clouds. But eventually I’d wake up, back to the harsh reality of the wasteland.

“And I won’t abandon a friend to the likes of him!” Sandy shouted loud enough I was sure they could hear us in the main hall, but after no one came running I felt a little safer. “I know you don’t want to, but please do it anyways. If not for yourself, then do it for us. Because I’d rather die than just sell you out like this.” 

I could hear the hitch in her voice, but I knew without a doubt she meant every word. And if I stayed any longer her claim would likely be put to the test. The world really seems like an unfair place sometimes.

I tried not to cry, I really did. but I couldn’t help it as I said the words I never thought I’d have to say. “Okay I’ll… I’ll leave. Just promise me you’ll be safe. This town is my home, my family. If I lost this I…”

Sandy pulled me into a tight hug. “You won’t. You’ll go run around the wasteland for awhile, have some awesome adventure, then you’ll come back and tell us boring townsfolk all about your cool stories alright? I’m sure all of this will blow over soon and you can come back. You,” she pulled out of the hug and poked me in the chest, “promise me you’ll be safe. You’re the one going out into all that mess.”

I smiled through the tears and poked her nose. “I’m disappointed you doubt me.” I turned to the mayor who was watching for them through the window in the door. “Are you sure you’ll be fine? What will he do when he finds out you lied?”

She stood at the window stoically, answering without even turning to face me. “Then I will deal with him. I regard everyone in this town as my family, especially you. And nopony hurts my family and get’s away with it. Now hurry we don’t have much time. You can run by your house and grab what you can, but don’t delay.” I heard a roar of anger as something heavy collided with a wall. “Go now. He’s getting very impatient.”

I nodded to her as I looked her in the eyes for what might even be the last time I ever saw her. I jumped through the open window in the small room and bolted down the street with Sandy hot on my tail. “We don’t have much time! I’ll help you pack what you need but I have to get back to the mayor as soon as possible.” I could barely hear over the wind in my ears as we ran for all that our legs were worth. 

I had to fight the tears back again as we approached my little shack at the end of town. Sure it wasn’t much, but it was my own little corner of the wasteland. No that it mattered much now, I wouldn’t see it again for a long time. We rushed inside and immediately set out to put whatever I would need into my saddlebags. A few health potions I had stored away, some canned food, a canteen, and of course my favorite books. What, a tough pony can’t like to read every once in awhile too?

Finally I came to the two possessions  I held most dear. the first was a set of wingblades I made myself. They weren’t fancy, and they certainly weren’t pretty to look at. But they were mine. I had made these with my own hooves, and I couldn’t count the hours I’ve spent practicing with them. The second was a set of three books. The first was a trans-language lexicon for Equestrian and Cirran, the ancient race of the Pegasi. The second book was a training manual written by Commander Hurricane himself for his Praetorian guard. And the third was a biography of Commander Hurricane, written by his daughter Typhoon.

They were probably priceless before the war, now to most ponies they were just more momentos to a forgotten past. But not to me. I never knew my parents, mayor Laps said she woke one night to find me sitting in a cloud cradle on her doorstep as a pegasus soared off into the clouds. But whoever they were, they left these with me. I don’t know why, but all I can think of is that they wanted me to learn something from these books. To learn the ways of better ponies, ponies who stood together for something.

Sandy nudged my shoulder when she noticed I was lost in my thoughts. I turned to see she had packed the rest of my things and was watching me with a sad smile. “I’m sure they’d be proud of you if they knew who you grew up to be.”

I wiped a tear from my eyes and hugged her one last time. “Thank you, for everything. You’ve always been there for me like a sister. I’ve never had a family, but I imagine having one feels like this.” 

We parted ways too soon as I ran SouthEast, hoping to get to the far side of the nearby mountain range by nightfall. I ran past confused ponies as I left town, ponies I’d known my whole life. I knew I’d be coming back someday, so why did it feel like I’d never see them again? All of this was just so sudden! I didn’t have time to say goodbyes, I didn’t have time to see Lily or crack a joke with that buck running the gun store, I didn’t even have time to look back at my home! I simply ran until the town was just a black speck behind me.

Finally when I arrived at the base of the mountain range, I turned back to look at the town. Exhausted both physically and emotionally I collapsed as I cried. That was when I decided that no matter what happened I was going to return to that place even if it costed me my life. There was just no way I would ever abandon it to the wasteland. 

One day I will come back.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Quest Perk: "I Fight For My Friends!" You fight to protect the ones you care about, granting you 10% increased damage when near allies.



_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Character Updates:

Name: Updraft
Gender: Female
Race: Pegasus
Age: 19
Appearance: Midnight Blue coat; Black mane/tail with a silver streak
Size: Smaller than average
Occupation: Town Guard (Desert Springs)
Weapon Preferences: Bladed weapons (Swords, wingblades, knives, etc.)
Skill Set: Very agile and fast; not good at long distance running or flights, but good at using wings to help in a fight. Very well practiced at fighting, but inexperienced.

Name: Sandy Roads
Gender: Female
Race: Earth Pony
Age: 22
Appearance: Desert Sand coat; Desert Sand mane/tail with a Pale Brown Streak
Size: Average
Occupation: Town Guard (Desert Springs)
Weapon Preferences: Her trusty 30-30 Iron Sight rifle.
Skill Set: very good at blending in to her surroundings; has excellent vision, and is good at long ranged shooting despite not using a scoped weapon.
> Chapter 2 Into the Fire?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's been a lot of things that's happened to me, that I didn't particularly enjoy. Being thrown off of an angry Manticore's back into a brick wall after cutting it's tail off is certainly high on that list. I thought that being forced to leave my home and friends because some creep wanted me to be his wife or something would have always been on the top of the list. But today I experienced something far less pleasant. 

I ran through a doorway in the burning building as fast as I could while trying to pat down my smoking tail. Ignoring the smell of burnt hair I ran through a door into the next room just before a wall of flame erupted where I was just standing.

"Get back here, I wanna have grilled chicken for lunch!" I heard the raider shout over the roaring flames as he cackled.

"Oh come on! All I did was ask if you had any spare food!" I yelled as I frantically searched the room for anything of use. No exits... not good. I saw a shelf full of old maps with crazy lines and numbers drawn on them, but other than a chair and desk I was out of luck.

"Don't you worry, we're fixen' to have plenty to eat!" He laughed once again before rushing into the doorway. I panicked and kicked the chair at him. It knocked him off balance as his flamer battle saddle went off, setting the ceiling ablaze. It wasn't much of an opportunity but it was all I had. I dashed at him as fast as I could and jumped over him with the help of my wings, kicking him in the back of the head as I did. I glanced back to see the burning room collapse on him as he screamed. 

I almost stopped running before I remembered about the giant tanks of fuel he had on his back. The bang deafened me and leveled a good portion of the building, setting even more of the surrounding area on fire. I was lucky it didn't turn me to a black crisp, but all I could do was collapse to the floor and cover my ringing ears. A baseball bat full of nails hitting my back put a stop to that.

I cried out in pain as the second earth pony raider raised the bat for a second hit. I kicked his legs out from under him and wrestled my way onto his back. I barely managed to stay there before he threw me off with his larger size. Luckily for me he threw me into the hall away from most of the fire so I hobbled to the nearest room and sat behind a large couch.

It appeared to be some kind of large employee lounge with a kitchen, so there was probably some decent things to scavenge in here. But there was no way I was going to move and let him know where I was. I quietly slid my saddlebag off of my back and started digging through it. No time to bandage any wounds, but I could at least pull my knife out. I know what you're thinking, why didn't I do that a lot sooner? Well I tried to do that several times, but it's hard when you're being chased by a cannibalistic psychopath with a flamethrower.

I heard him walk down the hall and pass the room I was in before turning back. "I know you're in there my pretty, why don't you come on out for me? I promise I won't hurt you... much." He walked slowly into the room kicking trash and furniture around trying to find me.

I waited until he was right next to me before springing on him like a cat. I jumped and slid to a stop right in front of him as I brought my knife to his neck... and stopped just short. These ponies burned me, beat me, and were still trying to kill me, but I just couldn't bring myself to kill them back. He smirked as he brought the bat down on my leg. Hard.

I yelped and cradled the leg as he spit the bat out and began pacing in front of me. "Oh I'm gonna have fun with you. I'm gonna break every bone in your body with that bat and cut you up for some nice decorations. But first I think I'm going to have fun in a more... personal way."  Wait, what?

"Oh buck that noise!" I rolled back onto my hooves away from him and held my injured fore hoof off of the floor. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before he picked up his bat and charged at me again. I waited till the last second before ducking under his swing and shoving him over my back. I picked up my knife again and turned to face the raider a second time. All I saw was a window with broken glass.

I peeked out to see him laying on the ground outside. He was shallowly breathing but was definitely blacked out. "Huh. Well that was convenient." I dropped my guard for a split second before running back to my saddlebags. There was still one more, a unicorn with a pistol. I couldn't afford to be careless again, that nearly got me killed twice already. After putting my saddlebags on (I only cried a little as they rubbed against the deep cuts from that bat I swear!) I slowly limped back into the hall. 

Pretty much everything on my left was on fire and the whole building could collapse any minute, so I decided to go right and get as far away as I could from the heat. I passed several locked doors before finding a stairwell that led back to the first floor. After an awkward and painful trip down a flight of stairs only using three legs I found myself in a hallway with a decidedly tasteless color scheme. 

The walls were a faded pink whereas the floor carpet was a mix of bright orange and green. Were they trying to make ponies happy or nauseous? I picked my way around the scattered trash before finding an unlocked door. I took a deep breath to calm myself before reaching to open it. I was not going to rush into something again today. Though in hindsight it was pretty easy to see that they were raiders before I walked up to them...

I slowly pushed the door open while I held my breath. The lights slowly flickered to life, revealing the room to be an office. After checking the corners I darted in and closed the door, feeling at least a little safer with a door between me and the last raider. After I sat and rested for awhile I pulled my healing bandages out and started on my fore leg. It was bruised and cut pretty bad, but it should heal pretty fast. With that out of the way I began the tedious task of bandaging my body. Stuff like that was always harder for us Pegasi...

I finally finished and put what little medical supplies I had left back in my bags. I almost fell asleep as I sat and stared at the door. I didn't really sleep much last night, what with it being my first night away from town and all. I decided to look around the room before I dozed off, and a large bookcase in one corner immediately caught my attention.

It was completely empty except the very top shelf held a small glass ball. I had to use my wings to reach it bringing on another flare of pain from my back, but it was worth it. That glass ball was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. It was such a pure white with a polished face, without having any scratches or anything! It was clean too, so clean I could see my reflection-

"Gotcha!"

I yelped, turned, and threw the ball at the doorway as hard as I could. Now I wasn't a particularly strong pony at all, so I was a bit confused when I opened my eyes to see the unconscious unicorn raider flat on his back with bloody nose. I walked over to him and saw that I hit him straight in the face with the glass ball, and for some reason it knocked him out. "So that happened..."

I took his pistol and searched his bags for food, careful not to wake him up. No medical supplies, but two cans of something that vaguely resembled food and a resounding 'yes' later, I stepped over him and quickly left the building behind. I got lucky they didn't kill me, but I didn't want to press my luck by staying near a giant smoke signal with two unconscious raiders. 

The town sign said that this was an old mining town, but it hardly looked like a town to me. There were only a few scattered houses and even fewer businesses. The biggest building in town just got halfway burnt down in that last fight, and I really didn't feel like going too far at the moment, so I slowly made my way to one of the houses furthest from town.

The walk felt like it took an eternity with each step, but I'm too young to be complaining about my back pains. I had to force the front door open, which was either a really good sign or was about to get me killed. After a quick search it seemed like no one had been here in a long time. I pushed a table in front of the door before settling down on a couch. Just a little sleep and I'd be fine. An hour, no more than two.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I awoke to the sound of ponies talking outside. Before when I heard that, all it meant was that somepony had something they wanted to say. But now it meant that there was someone near you who might try to kill,rape, or enslave you. I walked over to a small window in the front room and peeked over the bottom edge. The glass was cracked and broken in places but I could see four ponies talking as they walked towards the front door.

"I'm telling you those three are around here somewhere. We were walking through this town when they hit us, and raiders don't go far." The first pony, a spiky-haired unicorn with a double barrel shotgun was leading the group.

"Yeah but we looked all over for them and all we found was that cooked dead guy in the burning building. I'm telling you they moved on." The second one, a dirty brown earth pony had a pistol with a huge clip sticking out.

I set my saddlebags in a corner and put my wingblades on. The scales needed a little oil but they certainly got the job done. After checking to make sure my knife was loosely sitting in the sheath on my foreleg I walked to the second floor of the house. I waited until they were just reaching the front door before I jumped out of the window and landed right in front of them, softening my landing with my wings.

"Now I really don't want any trouble, so please don't attack me. I've had enough of that for one day." Now that I was right in front of them I could see their group much better. The second earth pony was holding a shovel that looked like he sharpened the edges, and the third earth pony was holding an smg with a lot of bullets. More bullets than I'd ever seen in one place before! He was wearing light armor covered in pockets for them!

I never thought I would look intimidating to four ponies so heavily armed, especially with my tail singed as it was. But when I landed in front of them they all jumped and tensed up. The pony with the smg was the first to speak up with a raspy voice. "Are you one of the raiders that attacked our last caravan through here?"

The unicorn shook his head. "No I would definitely remember a Pegasus attacking us. But now I have a better idea than chasing a couple raiders down." He adopted a sly smile that  didn't like one bit.

"Okay then... well I took care of your little raider problem so don't worry about it. They attacked me this morning and set that building on fire." I was really not liking the looks they were starting to give me. But the pony with the smg stayed professional.

"So the raiders are all dead or gone?" He pushed the unicorn aside as he stepped to the front of the group.

"Yeah the one with the flamer killed himself with that collapsing building, but I scared the other two off." I really didn't like somepony with that much firepower looking at me that seriously.

"So you expect me to believe that you, a single pony without any guns, killed one raider and scared off two more?" He raised his eyebrows incredulously. After I nodded he dropped his professionalism act for just a second before tuning to the unicorn. "Well it appears my job has been done for me. I still expect my payment when you get back."

"What? No way you didn't even do anything but-" The armored pony slammed him to the ground with almost no effort.

"I'm here aren't I? Now I expect full payment when you get back. And make it quick, I don't like waiting." He walked off with all the confidence you'd expect from a pony who could probably take on three others without a sweat. I stood off to the side as the other two helped the unicorn get back to his hooves.

"How am I supposed to pay that monster off now? I was counting on the money we'd make from looting those raiders!" The unicorn seemed like the leader of the group as he paced back and forth. The pony with the pistol nodded his head at me with a sickening smile, and the unicorn's face lit up. "Oh yeah of course, I knew that." He pulled out a collar with a chain attached and some shackles as he slowly approached me. "Alright now listen because I'm only gonna tell you this once. I'm gonna chain you up to my pal Spits back there, and you're going to come with us back to Appleloosa. Then I'm gonna sell ya and get enough money to pay that bastard off and still have some leftover for a few drinks."

I changed my posture and get ready to strike if I needed to. "And what if I say no?" I pulled the knife out of it's sheath and grit my teeth around the handle as he laughed.

"Bitch you're a slave now, you don't get to say no." I rolled forward and brought my knife across his throat, cutting his windpipe and artery in one movement. Gangers always liked to cause trouble, I never did much care for them. Raiders were monsters who took whatever they wanted without remorse, but I've met a few ponies who've turned from those ways and tried to do better. But slavers? I had no respect for anypony who oppressed, hurt, and treated another pony like they were less valuable than a few caps or a bottle of booze.

Everything erupted into chaos after that, with the machine pistol pony spraying shots at me wildly as he backed up. I used the dead unicorn as a shield until he had to reload before rushing at him with a thrust of my wings. He swung at me as he tried to get away, but I ducked under the swing and almost cut his leg off with an upward thrust of my wing. I jumped over him and split his head open with a downward thrust of my other wing before turning to face the slaver with the shovel. He swung at me recklessly thinking he caught me off guard, but I blocked his shovel with a wing and brought my knife to slash at his throat. He pulled to the side and I missed, barely catching his shoulder.

"Shoot what are you waiting for?" I heard him shout around his shovel. I didn't give him time to prepare before I jumped at him with a slash from my wing. He blocked it with his shovel but it left him open for a jab from my knife. I hit him straight in the heart, and his body fell limp to the ground. I stared at his body for a second before I realized what I'd just done.

I...I killed them. these three ponies were dead, and it was entirely my fault. I mean sure they were slavers, and they deserved to die for what they did to other ponies. It wasn't my killing of them that bothered me so much, S'just that I did it so fast, without any kind of hesitation. They tried to hurt me, so I stopped them. It was like I was watching somepony else do that while I sat in the back of my mind. I really didn't like doing that and I hoped I'd never have to do it again.

A burst of pain erupted from my chest as I was pushed to the ground by something. I looked down to see a hole in my chest and a lot of blood. The unicorn approaching me had a sniper slung over his shoulder as he wore a smug smile. "Thought you could kill my coworkers and get away with it huh?" So this was how I died? Pretty lame if you asked me.

He picked up my knife and stood over me. "Don't worry it'll be quick, but probably not painless." He laughed as he lowered the knife to my throat. Next thing I know I was covered with the blood that used to be in his head as he fell on top of me. I looked over to see the two raiders from before, the unicorn carrying the unconscious earth pony on his back. He holstered the pistol again then gave me a look that said a thousand words as he walked away. I knew he didn't have anything to help me with, and he probably wouldn't if he did. I spared him, and he saved me.

I couldn't help but look at the sky as my vision slowly faded. I never did get to see the blue sky I've heard ponies talk about. Oh well, maybe somepony else will be a little safer after I killed those slavers. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the face of a cat looking down at me with concern.


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Level Up: Filly's league : Years of practice with your blades has honed your skill with melee weapons. +5 to melee damage


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For those of you who are curious about the design of wingblades, here's the model I use created by the brilliant mind of The 24th Pegasus
> Chapter 3 Strange Places, Strange Faces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I squirmed around on whatever hard surface I was currently laying on. I was cold, hungry, my throat felt more dry than I wanted to go into detail to describe, and my chest hurt more than anything I'd ever experienced. I'd completely forgotten about my aching leg and back as I cried and grit my teeth. Wait... pain?

I opened my eyes and saw I was in a dark room of some kind. After my eyes adjusted I could see it was some sort of open warehouse with half of one wall completely toppled over. The pouring rain hitting the tin roof was oddly relaxing as I laid there and tried to remember something, anything about how I got here. I remembered fighting some slavers, then a fourth one shot me. I remembered the raider from earlier helping me before leaving me to bleed to death, but that was it. Wait! There was a cat! Not like a normal cat, a big one! It looked like-

I yelped as loud as my aching chest would let me and scooted as far into the corner as I could go. That wasn't a cat! It was like a pony... cat thing! With cat ears, eyes and a tail! "Leave me alone I really don't want to be eaten right now please!"

It tilted it's head before falling to the floor laughing. "Hahaha... you really.. really thought I was gonna- oh that's a good one!" Well I didn't think the situation was funny. It finally stopped laughing and sat on it's haunches as it swished it's cat tail playfully. "Listen if I wanted to eat you, which is totally gross by the way, I would have done it when you were bleeding to death out in the street."

Now that I wasn't hyperventilating and a little more awake, I could tell it was clearly more pony than cat. No, not it. I'm sure he/she had a name. I found a way to sit up before asking an obvious question. "Okay... so are you the one that brought me here?"

He jumped up and smiled. "Sure am! I fixed you up after that gunshot wound too! I saw you fighting with those slavers, that was so cool! They were all 'You're coming with us' and you were all like 'Buck that noise!' and then you were like woosh and kapow and then you-" He reenacted my fight with the slavers with an enthusiasm I didn't share. After noticing this he sat next to me. "What's wrong?"

I laid back down and covered my face with a hoof. "I killed those ponies. I didn't have to, I could have run or hid from them. Instead I killed them. What's wrong with me?"

To my surprise he laid down next to me and leaned into my side. I blushed a little at how direct he was, but my attention was focused on where he was looking. He was staring at a far corner of the warehouse where a pile of bloody bandages and an empty healing potion bottle sat. "I know what you mean. I was watching you fight those guys, I saw the fourth one aiming at you. Even after he shot and was going to kill you with your knife, all I did was watch because I was too scared to move. I was too scared that if I even showed my face he'd just kill me too. I'm so worthless I can't even find my own parents, how could I ever help anypony?"

"But you helped me." He looked over at me as I sat up and smiled at him. "That's right. If you hadn't fixed me up I would have died back there. So don't going around saying you can't help anypony, and definitely don't ever say that you're worthless." He hugged me with enough force to make my chest burn with renewed pain, but I knew when somepony needed a hug so I returned the favor.

"Thank you. I've been so alone for so long, I just..." 

"Needed a friend. Me too... I recently had to leave my home for the first time for as long as I can remember, and I've been feeling pretty lonely too. Say you think maybe I could stick with you for awhile?"

He pawed at the ground sheepishly and folded his ears back. "Does... does this make us friends?"

"Absolutely! My name's Updraft." I stuck a hoof out, which he readily shook.

"And my name's Finder. Because, you know... I find stuff." 

I couldn't restrain myself any more. He was just too adorable. I kissed him on the forehead, making him blush. He tasted... minty? Okay then... "I don't think I could ask for a better friend. And not to kill the mood, but where exactly are we anyways? I don't remember seeing this place before I passed out."

He started rummaging through his bag as he answered. "Well I didn't want to stay on that slaver trail for longer than I needed to, so I carried you here to an old abandoned mining town. Most ponies don't come here because of the ghosts, but I don't mind 'em too much."

He carried me all the way here? Wow he's even smaller than me! I'll have to make it up to him. Wait, ghosts? "Like actual ghosts, or just a bunch of stories passed around by crazy ponies?"  I was really starting to get tired of this dry throat; every time I talked it burned.

He started pulling a few empty Sparkle Cola~ bottles with their caps still on them out of his bag and setting them on the floor. "Yeah that's exactly what I asked, but trust me they're real. Not sure why or how, but if you see a pony walking around here, they probably aren't as alive as the rest of us. One of the reasons I stay here really. Everpony is too scared to come out this way so I don't have to worry about raiders or anything."

I laid back down slowly, trying not to make my chest hurt any worse. "S'kinda like my home. The town that I'm from gives clean water to a couple big gangs, and in return they protect us from the raiders, slavers, and other smaller gangs. We had good food from the caravans that came through, shelter, protection, everything you could ask for in the wasteland." I left out the part about my friends I had to leave behind.

He blinked at me before tilting his head. "Sounds like a good deal, so why'd you leave?"

"Didn't really have a choice. I'd rather not talk about it, sorry." I finally started getting over having to leave, I really didn't want to start thinking about it again.

He shrugged his shoulders before he started gathering up the bottles. "Suit yourself. Well I'm going to get some clean-ish water while it's still raining. It's not much, but there's some food in that corner room when your hungry so help yourself." He balanced the bottles on his back (How is he doing that?) before leisurely walking to the collapsed wall and out into the rain.

Food sounded really good, and water sounded even better. But all I could think about as I closed my eyes was how tired I felt.


*****     *****     *****


A week ago if you had caught me eating dog food, there would have had to be a pretty big bet on the line. But I had no shame as I licked everything thing I could out of my second can. It looked and tasted pretty disgusting, but it was food, and I was hungry. I felt bad for drinking nearly all the water Finder collected while it was raining, but he assured me he had plenty more. After I finally felt remotely healthy again, I decided it was time I learned a thing or two about my new friend.

He was leaning against a wall as he looked out at the horizon. He looked… sad. “Hey is everything okay?” It took him awhile to respond, and he never took his eyes from the collapsed hole in the wall.

“Yeah I’m fine. Just miss em you know? My parents. I haven’t seen them since I was little and we got separated in the Everfree.” 

“You got separated? How’d that happen? And what’s the Everfree?” 

He looked at me as if mentally saying ‘city ponies don’t know nothing’ as he stifled a laugh. “The Everfree forest. It’s pretty much the only plant life left in Equestria, though all the radiation and taint turned that place into a nightmare. Pretty much nopony ever goes in there, and for good reasons. Back before the bombs fell it was one of the most dangerous places ponies went, filled with Manticores and all kinds of things."

"And now?"

His eyes looked hollow as he recalled the distant memories. "It used to be a scary place, but now nopony goes in that place and comes out the same. The animals there are mutated beyond any recognition. The water looks white and moves when it should be sitting still. Even the trees and plants themselves come alive to haunt you. But nothing in the wasteland compares to the Killing Joke."

I gulped as I thought over whether or not I dared to ask him about something like that. He didn't give me the time to wimp out of asking him though.

"That's actually how I got separated from my parents. See we were adventurers: not like your normal scavengers, we went places everypony else was too scared to. Dragon's lairs, prewar buildings loaded with turrets and sentries, so-called haunted mines," he shot me a smirk, and I knew why he felt so comfortable here now. "We went anywhere that had a chance of good loot that no one had found yet. But we also took a lot of jobs from the wealthier ponies to find things for them. So when we were offered a job to find a particular flower in the Everfree for some kind of medicine, of course we thought 'What better place to have an adventure'?"

His story was interrupted by a series of loud bangs coming from outside, followed by a lot of shouting. They sounded like gunshots, coming from something bigger than I wanted to see. Finder pulled me away from the hole in the wall before starting to frantically pack what he could in his bags. After noticing my confusion, he motioned for me to help him pack.

"Steel Rangers, and a lot of them. They come out here every couple of weeks to take what pre-war tech they can. This place is filled with all kinds of old machinery, a lot of it still working. They may seem somewhat friendly at their Headquarters, but trust me they'll toast you on sight if they catch you out here. The ghosts scramble their E.F.S. so they can't see us that way, but the more experienced ones will pick up on us if we sit still."

I started packing up his supply of dog food (it really didn't taste that bad...) and soon we both had everything ready to move. "So where are we going then?"

"Literally anywhere that isn't here. I figured we'd get back to town and go from there." Great, so he didn't have a plan either. Oh well I usually did my best work when I had no idea what I was doing.

Finder sat next to the crumbled wall, his head barely poking over the rubble. After he knew for sure where the Steel Rangers where, he led me out of the warehouse and down a nearby alley. I couldn't help but admire how good he was at this. He moved completely without a sound, somehow managing that even when walking on broken glass. He also checked every corner and window we passed without missing a single step, never slowing down for-

He suddenly leaped through a broken window without a sound or warning, and I panicked as I rushed follow him. I hid under the window sill with him for mere moments before three Steel Rangers clambered by with their heavy armor, shaking dust from the buildings ceiling as they marched past. One of them said something in a harsh tone before they rounded a corner and kept walking.

We waited for nearly a minute before we climbed back through the window and continued stalking our way down the alley. After we were a long distance away I had to ask him a question. "That was incredible! How did you know they were coming?"

He flashed me a smile, but never stopped his vigilance at checking every hiding place we passed. "Ever wonder why cat's are so good at being predators? It's because they're so good at being prey." Well that didn't answer my question at all.

After nearly an hour and several more close encounters (We hid in cabinets once! Cabinets!), we finally left the creepy mining town behind and made our way back to the small town we were at before. Before long we came to the house that I fought the slavers at, there bodies still sitting in the street. I stopped and stared at the large bloodstain where I'd been shot and the two empty healing potion bottles dropped nearby. Finder must have used everything he had to save me. 

I picked up a nearby broken pipe (it tasted awful!) and started digging a hole on the side of the road. Finder watched me and tilted his head. "What are you doing that for?"

I spit the pipe out and wiped some sweat from my forehead. "I killed these ponies, least I can do is bury them." And with that I went back to digging. It didn't take long for Finder to join me, and after what felt like an hour we had all four graves finished. I checked them to make sure they didn't have any valuables (I'm not that stupid...) before we buried them all. I couldn't find much to use as headstones, but I used a couple of big rocks I found nearby.

After about an hour we made our way out of the town without any real destination in mind. We just kept walking under that boring grey sky, with nothing to look at but the boring brown desert. Needless to say, I quickly became bored.

"So you never did get to finish your story, about your parents."

"Oh right, now where was I..." We spotted a crashed sky carriage and started to look for any loot. "See Killing Joke is some pretty mean stuff. With just a touch it can instantly kill you, but usually it tries to play some kind of sick joke on you that kills you really slowly instead. Like say somepony is really clumsy and they fall all the time. One day they say that they hate the downy-pull stuff... uhh gravita or whatever it's called. Then one day, maybe even years later, Killing Joke get's to em, and the next thing they know they're flying away without anything to hold them down. True story by the way, totally saw it happen."

That was... unsettling to say the least. I'm pretty sure that stuff was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to see. "So what's it have to do with you?"

He laughed a small, sad laugh. "See that's the funny thing, I always used to say I was sneaky enough that I could even steal a cat's tail without them knowing. Ironic huh? Never even saw it coming. One minute I was listening to my mom and dad talk about settling down in Friendship city after we finished that last job, and the next I was laying on the ground in too much pain to hear anything. I passed out for a couple days after it got me. And when I did wake up, I was alone in a small shack on the south side of the Everfree. I still don't know what happened to my parents."

We got a small fortune from the sky carriage: two Sparkle Cola's~, a healing potion, and some nasty looking canned vegetables. Somepony was probably stashing them there hoping nopony would find them.I felt too bad to take it all, so I just took one Sparkle Cola~ and the healing potion, and left some water. Finder just laughed and walked off, but I wasn't going to take everything this pony had when we still had plenty to get by with.

We walked in silence after the carriage, and I used the time to think about my new friend. He was clearly younger than me, but not by much. Despite this he definitely knew more about the Wasteland than I did, so I was really lucky to be with him. Well that and he did kinda save my life, so I guess I owe him quite a lot by now. Plus he was such a good friend! He would do anything for me, I just couldn't think of how to repay him though... I got it!

"Hey Finder?"

"Yeah?"

"You said you still don't know where your parents are, right? Are you still looking for them?" 

He nodded and still somehow maintained his astounding observance of our surroundings. "Well it's not like I have anything else to do. And I'd really like to see them again. I never even got to say goodbye or anything."

"Then it's decided! Since I don't have anywhere else to go at the moment, and I definitely owe you big time for saving me back there, I'm going to stop at nothing to help you find your parents." He stopped dead on his hooves and his jaw fought to play tag with the ground.

"Wait! But... I mean.. I didn't help you just so you'd owe me a favor or something! I mean don't feel like you have to do this or something. I can't ask you to-"

His incoherent ramblings were silenced by my hoof in his mouth. "Shh. Listen I'm not doing this just because you saved me, and I'm not doing this because I owe you something. I'm doing it because you're my friend, and that's what friends do."

He was still for a moment as he looked at the ground. If I wasn't watching him so closely I would have missed the tear that hit the hard desert floor. "Thank you. That's all I can say, is thank you." And another bone crushing hug later, we were on our way to wherever it was we were going.

"So do you have any idea where they might be?" 

"I'm not sure, but I have some ideas. We always found good loot in Las Pegasus, and we went there often, so that's a good start. It's a pretty long walk, but there's an old house near here we can stay the night at."

"Sounds like a plan boss." He blushed a little at his new title, but I thought it was adorable. We walked for another hour or two before reaching the house just as night fell. It wasn't much more than a shack really, with just one room and no windows. There wasn't any furniture left that was remotely usable, and all the cabinets had been pilfered through multiple times.

My chest was really starting to ache after all that walking, so I dropped to the floor as soon as we were inside. Finder continued his habit of checking every single nook and cranny in the house until he was completely sure not even a rad roach or spider was inside. After he walked around the room a couple of times, much to my amusement, he plopped down next to me with a sigh.

I unfurled my wings and got as comfortable as I could get on the cold wooden floor. Despite my body aches I really wasn't very sleepy, so I opened out my saddlebags and pulled out one of my trusty old books. Finder laughed when I pulled out a candle, but I shut him up after what I did next. 

I closed my eyes and focused, feeling the magic flowing through my body. After a moment I slowly moved my wing over the candle, and when I pulled it away the candle was lit with a bright little flame. Haha now it was my turn to look like the cool pony. "How did you...when did... I don't even... I thought only unicorns could do magic you cheater!"

I laughed and nearly blew out the candle. "You know why us Pegasi are such good fighters? Because we're good at keeping secrets."

"That is so not cool."

"Tell you what, I learned how to do that from this very book actually, and since we're friends I'll even let you read it with me." His eyes lit up and he tried to reach for the book like a foal would reach for a jar of cookies. I even had to slap his hoof away, which he highly disapproved of. "However! We have to be extremely careful. This book is made of some really strong stuff, but it's still way older than either of us can imagine and I don't want to take any chances."

I reached back and plucked a feather from one of my wings, using it to open the book to the front page. I quickly noticed the confusion on Finder's face as he tried to read it. "What is this, some kind of weird picture book? Those don't look like letters at all!"

I made myself more comfortable as I explained it. "That's because this is written in another language. One that probably hasn't been spoken for over a thousand years. It's called Cirran, the ancient language of the Cirran Empire. Long before Equestria was even formed, when the Pegasi were much more war-like and before they even knew of the other pony tribes. I don't know much about it really, but I have another book that taught me how to read it pretty well."

"Well that's nice and all, but how am I supposed to read it?"

"Don't worry I can read it out loud. I've been meaning to practice that anyways. Though I may have to go kinda slow, this stuff is hard to read in some places since it was mouth-written." 

The wind outside howled, and the dust blew. But in the quiet stillness of that abandoned house, we peacefully read the story of a pony long since dead.

"14th of First Seed, 401 After Empire

Writing was never something that I took a profound interest in. There are things I consider more important for a pegasus to know; how to plow a field, how to navigate stormy currents, how to handle a sword and wing blades. Above all, however, I believe that a pegasus must learn how to remember, and maybe it is through this belief that I feel the need to write..."


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No Level Up.


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Character Updates

Name: Finder
Gender: Male
Race: Earth Pony
Age: 17
Appearance: Black coat; sage green mane/tail/eyes; has cat ears, eyes, and tail.
Size: much smaller than average
Occupation: Scavenger
Weapons of choice: Uses a dagger made from a Manticore claw.
Skillset: The name says it all, he can find almost anything given the time. Extremely stealthy; very agile and fast; never had to fight other ponies before.

> Chapter 4 Stranger Places, the Strangest of Faces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never was much of a morning pony. True I always got up early and practiced my flying or my knife fighting, but I never did enjoy it much. That was until one morning when I woke up early to check the town. I heard a little filly crying, sitting on a rock just as the sun started to rise. I was concerned at first, until I realized she was actually smiling. I couldn't help but ask her if something was wrong, to which she promptly replied, "No, but every morning when I see the sunrise, I can't help but remember my mother. Her smile, her soft voice as she sang to me, all the wonderful things she taught me. So every time I see a sunrise, I always think of what I can do to make the day better than yesterday." Ever since that quiet morning when I sat and watched the distant sunrise with that little filly, I've always woken up in time to watch the sun come up with a smile.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


Finder and I stayed up far too late reading Commander Hurricane's journal, and I figured he would want to sleep a little bit longer so I stayed outside and practiced my flying a little. I could fly pretty fast, and I was getting better at maneuvering mid-air, but I just couldn't shake that fear of falling whenever I got somewhat high. Maybe that's why pegasi before the war had flight camps, to help kids get over their fear of falling so they can fly like a normal pegasus pony. I checked all of my books, but apparently having a fear of falling was too pathetic for anyone during the times of the Cirran Empire or pony tribes to acknowledge.

So as I tried yet again to fly more than ten feet off the ground, my wings locked up and I fell to the ground. Face first. Again. I could hear faint giggling coming from the direction of the house, but I didn't give it's author the pleasure of looking up with my dirt covered face. "Yeah go ahead and laugh, not like you're the first. But one day I'm going to fly above the clouds and see the best sunrise ever." 

To my surprise he walked over and helped me up with an easy smile. "I'm sure you will, but why can't you do that now? I mean your wings aren't broken or anything right?"

Now that lit a fuse for sure. "No my wings aren't broken, they aren't worthless, and I'm not a chicken! I'm tired of everypony making fun of my wings!" When I calmed down enough to realize how tense I was, I just laid back down and covered my face with a hoof. When I looked up I expected him to have walked away after that pathetic display, but he was still standing there with his easy smile.

"I-I'm sorry that was... childish of me. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." I felt even more stupid as I wiped a tear away with a fetlock.

He pawed at the dirt and hung his head. "Don't worry about it, everypony has their problems. I mean look at me, if I was alive before the war ponies would be terrified of me. And I'm the one who should be sorry, that was a stupid question and I shouldn't have even asked that."

He helped me back onto my hooves again, and after a few false starts I finally started talking again. "So... you ready to head out?"

"Ready when you are." After I took a moment to get my bags, we left the house behind and made  our way to Las Pegasus. I'd never been there myself of course, but I'd heard the ruins there were an amazing sight to see. Giant towers almost reaching the cloud layer, still glowing signs proclaiming the names of casinos long abandoned, and some of the largest Balefire craters you can find in the Wasteland. Apparently the zebras saw Las Pegasus as a summary of everything they hated about ponykind, so they destroyed it with extreme prejudice.

Then again it's a sight few have dared to see due to the Hellhounds, Bloodwings, Feral Ghouls, and the nearly omnipresent radiation. As I went down the list I was starting to reconsider my choice of going there actually. "Hey Finder, you said you've been to Las Pegasus before right? Why would anypony in their right mind ever go there?"

He stifled a laugh as he jumped over a large rock with enough grace to make any mare jealous. (Except for me of course...) "Well Las Pegasus isn't anymore dangerous than anywhere else if you know what to do. But since there are so many ways to end up dead there, most ponies won't even go within sight of it. And that means there's all kinds of good stuff you can find there. The last time I went there I found a StableTec service store that sold PipBucks, and it had seventeen of them that had never even been used! Seventeen! I had to leave most of them, but they're probably still there."

"Right, point taken. So, since we're going to be in the area anyways..."

"Yes we can go see if they're still there." 

"Yes! This is gonna be so awesome!" I jumped as high as I could in excitement, but he pulled me back to the ground by my tail.

"But! You have to do exactly as I say, when I say it, without any questions. Got it? Las Pegasus is really dangerous and it's easy to get lost, so I don't want you wandering around into a Balefire crater or something." I saluted him with a serious expression, which probably just looked silly considering the backwards and upside-down position I was flying in. We both had a few good laughs as I landed next to him, but we went silent when we reached the top of a small hill.

Not far from us was the blasted remains of a pre-war town. some of the buildings seem to have been destroyed more recently, and the rubble had been piled up to form a wall around the few buildings still standing. The most notable of these was a large casino, the peeling black paint and huge size of the structure making it stand in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. A large sign above the front entrance proudly proclaimed it's name, 'The Black 9'.

The wall was of poor construction and it looked as though it was cobbled together in a hurry. It probably wouldn't take more than a grenade to render it useless, but with the guards patrolling along its top I suppose it serves it's purpose.

By watching said guards I quickly decided this wasn't likely to be a very friendly place. They all wore spikes or chains of some kind, and their clothing and weapons were all in very poor conditions. Raiders probably, but I personally didn't plan on getting anywhere near close enough to be sure. One look at Finder told me he certainly didn't share that sentiment.

"No. I don't know what you're thinking, but no." He shook his head before looking at me with a puppy-eyes frown.

"What- But come on Updraft! Do you have any idea what kind of loot they have in there?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. There's no way I'm going into a fort full of angry raiders. I sat down with a 'humph' and crossed my forelegs.

"Oh come on, you haven't even heard my plan yet!"

There was a sound of hoof smacking forehead, and I knew I was going to immediately regret my decision. "I know I'm going to hate myself for even asking this, but what's your 'plan'?

"Alright, from what I've seen they keep all the good stuff on the second floor of that black building. There's a back door that'll let us in no problem, and I know most of the raiders aren't here, so their won't be too many guards. All we gotta do is sneak around to the part of the wall that's closest, run to that back door, and get inside."

"And how do we escape?" I tried and probably failed to hide the skepticism in my voice.

"After we rob them blind, there's some stairs that lead up to the roof. We get up there and you fly us to safety beyond the wall."

I didn't like that idea at all: that building looked pretty tall, at least four stories. And the wall looked several hundred yards away and I've never carried anyone while flying before. But I let those thoughts sit at the back of my mind, I had more immediate concerns. "And you're sure you know your way around that place? I'd rather us not get lost in there."

"Sure do. I already got in there once, but they always have one guard outside the room with all their stuff and I couldn't get past him. But I'm sure you could handle that just fine."

I wasn't very comfortable about others seeing me as being really good at killing ponies. And killing somepony without it being a fight? definitely not my style. But I guess since they're raiders I can do it if I need to. But... "What about the guards on the wall? I doubt I can fly right over their heads without them noticing."

His face lit up like a tree on Hearth Warming Eve as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a little orange disc. "Oh I've got something to help with that."


_______________


Stupid! This was a terrible idea! But as we sprinted from the wall to the large casino it was far too late to go back. Finder's timed mine worked as a perfect distraction, the explosion leveling a part of the wall on the opposite side of town and drawing the attention of every raider here. I reached the back door shortly behind Finder, and to my dismay it was locked. I was about to start losing it before he pulled out a screwdriver and bobby pin. One picked lock later and we were safely inside a small maintenance room. 

"Wait you can pick locks? Where did you learn to do that?" I began picking through the trash piles in the room to see if I could find anything salvageable. Really it was just something to help keep my mind off of the fact that we just ran into the middle of a raider's camp unnoticed. Finder was working on unlocking the door that lead further into the building. I didn't find much, but I was a few caps richer so I wasn't going to complain.

"My mom taught me. My parents taught me a lot of that kind of stuff, but I never got to learn some of the stuff most ponies did." Somehow he was capable of speaking clearly while holding a bobby pin in his mouth. Dumb earth ponies and their dumb ability to do things like that... 

I wanted to ask what he meant about not learning the things most ponies did, but the door clicked open and I didn't want to make any more noise than I had to. We quietly made our way through the dark hall, walking left and passing several open doors that led to small offices or other hallways. Finally we came to a large doorway on our right that let bright light pierce the darkness in our hallway, ruining our night vision. Finder peaked his head around the corner briefly before sprinting across the opening and stopping safely on he other side. He turned back and motioned me to do the same.

I poked my head around he corner, but I'll never stop regretting seeing what was in the room. It was the large casino floor of the building, most of the machines still working and giving off bright neon lights after all this time. However the raiders clearly decided this was going to be the main attraction of their sickening home. There were countless bodies hanging from the high ceiling, many still dripping blood onto the floor below.

There were several empty cages scattered around the room, but the blood stains told me they hadn't been empty for long. I couldn't see what was in a row a cages behind some slot machines, but in a closer cage there was a raider that was-

Well there wen't my breakfast. I could have lived a happy life never having seen a pony be that personal with a dismembered corpse, but the Wasteland hated me apparently. I took a moment to recover, and I had to close my eyes and sing a song in my head to drown out the sounds, but I finally crossed the opening to where Finder was waiting. He looked at me for a moment and frowned before turning and continuing further down the hall. We slipped through heavy door marked 'employees only' and found ourselves at the middle of a stairwell. It was to dark to see what was below us, but I could hear voices from the floor above us.

Finder tilted his head and ears upward before turning to me. "Okay here's what we're gonna do. When I say 'go', we're gonna run (quietly!) up the stairs, through the open door into the offices, and we're gonna go into the first room on our left. Once we're in there this will be easy. Just no matter what stay right on my tail... and don't look right. Please." He regarded me with a concerned frown. I got really curious about what he meant by that, but I trusted him so I nodded anyways.

We waited there for several minutes, bodies poised to sprint up the stairs at a moment's notice. I was just starting to get bored when Finder barely whispered something before bolting up the stairs silently. I kept up with him without a problem, but I probably made lot more noise than he did. We entered the offices, a large, open room filled with broken cubicles and defiled worktables, and immediately ran to our left. I could hear the voices of several raiders in the same room as us!

The sprint felt like it lasted an eternity but we finally reached the door he was talking about. Finder reached for the handle but he froze as his ears perked up. He turned around looking panicked as he looked at the room behind me. I heard a muffled, gravelly voice through the door. "D'you hear somethin? I coulda sworn I heard one uf dem idjits outside tryin' to spy on us." Yep, the wasteland definitely hates me.

We ran along the wall trying to open any door we could, but they were all locked or blocked by debris. Finally Finder lucked out as he pulled open a door to a janitor's closet and rushed inside. I could hear the door to the office open! I flew to the closet as fast as I could, only turning back to pull the door closed. But what I saw must have been what Finder warned me about. I sat frozen in place in the doorway as I looked at the far side of the room where the two raiders were talking. 

The wall in front of them was covered from top to bottom with the mutilated, defiled bodies of young fillies and colts, none of which died a quick death. They were crudely nailed to the wall with rusty spikes, their heads were all turned to face the viewer, their faces  all wearing expressions of horror. The two raiders were struggling to fit a new victim into an open place on the wall. If my mind could fully comprehend what I was seeing I'd likely go on a bloodthirsty rampage. But as it was all I could do was cry. 

Finder pulled me into the closet by my tail, before easing the door closed. He breathed a sigh of relief and mumbled something but my addled brain couldn't make out what he said. I just sat n the middle of the closet and cried. At first Finder was giving me some space, but he quickly moved close and hugged me tight. "I told you not to look..." He held me as I cried into his shoulder. I never imagined anypony could be so cruel.


_______________



It took me a long time to look up from my little corner in the closet. Finder had left and come back several times, crawling through the air vents in the ceiling trying to decide where to go next. The most recent time he came back covered in some kind of black dust, causing him to sneeze and send the stuff everywhere in the small room. I couldn't help but laugh a little at how silly he looked when I could only make out his eyes and mouth. "Okay when we go up there, don't take the first left. Just trust me."

After Finder finally managed to get most of the black stuff off of his coat, we climbed the stack of boxes he made and began our crawl through the air vents. Finder navigated us through the dark tight maze (I was only a little scared, promise!) and finally we squirmed our way through the tight opening into a small office with windows on the front wall. The glass was broken, but luckily for us someone had boarded them up.

I nearly fell on top of Finder in my rush to get out of the air ducts. Leave small spaces for the Earth Ponies... I crept up behind him as he peeked out of the door, but he waved me back. "Let me look first." After what happened earlier I didn't care to argue. I almost yelped when a raider walked past the doorway, but Finder didn't even flinch."Alright there's only one guard left. If you creep along the left side of the hallway he won't see you until your right on top of him. Ready?"

"Ready when you are." I wasn't. I poised myself next to the door, but I really didn't like this. Killing a pony before they can fight back? Really doesn't seem like something the good guys would do. Then my thoughts drifted back to what they did to those poor kids. No, they deserve this.

I slipped out of the door and into the dark hall, only one of the lights was working and it was hanging above the guard. I crept low next to the left wall, and I was able to get within hoof's reach before he noticed me. But he was far too late. I lunged forward and slid my left wing across his throat. The scaled blade nearly decapitated the raider, staining my wing and side in his blood. Finder rushed to my side and began picking the lock on the door.

"We need to hurry. Somepony else might wander up here any second." He began frantically picking it, breaking two bobby pins in the process. Finally he got the door open, and what waited inside almost made my jaw hit the floor. When Finder said the raiders had a lot of loot in here, I pictured some piles of weapons, food, maybe some old prewar tech. But I never expected this. Inside was a large office with a massive desk in the middle and several chairs (all made of wood, and not even rotted in the slightest!) scattered around the room. But in the back of the room was the largest steel door I had ever seen! Okay it wasn't really that big, I just don't get out much.

Seeing the terminal sitting in the wall next to the door, I wondered how Finder planned on opening it. I asked as much. He walked over to the terminal and pressed a button, opening the door while looking at me with a smug smile. "Oh, right. I guess there isn't a point in locking this door when they have the other door locked and a guard outside at all times..." He snickered as he walked into the vault. I stood at the door as a lookout, but I peeked inside briefly. 

The floor was littered with stacks of weapons, and there were several small boxes overflowing with caps The walls were lined with small doors, each having a lock. It looks like somepony had tried to open several of them with a hammer, and the black stain on the floor and left wall made me think somepony thought it was a god idea to use a grenade... The back half of the room was blocked off by large steel bars and another steel door, and I couldn't believe what I saw beyond them. Gems! Piles of them, overflowing from crates and barrels. I'd never seen more than one or two at a time, but it looked like there were thousands of them back there!

"Keep your eyes on the door. I really don't want somepony coming up behind me. It should only take me a minute to bag all of this stuff. No way I can open the wall boxes, but I can at least grab all these caps." I nodded and ran back to the office door, peeking into the hallway. As an afterthought I decided to drag the raider's body into the office and close the door. Sure there'd still be blood all over the floor, but that was normal for raider territory right?

I sat with my ear to the door trying to hear if anypony walked down the hall. No one did, and soon Finder had both of our bags full of caps and other valuables. I noticed one of his bags had several of those white ball things like I found before, but I didn't have the time to ask him why. We lined up against the door and built up the courage to leave the room, but we heard a dull boom from outside the building. 

"That's so not cool!" Finder busted though the door and galloped down the hall away from where we came. I strained to catch up to him, having to use my wings for extra speed. We rounded a corner and began ascending a flight of stairs,  quickly passing the third and fourth floors.

"What? What is it!?"

"That was the distraction to help us get us off the roof! It went off early!"

Wait, that was our only way to get off the roof? So not cool! "So what now?"

"I don't know, but we need to see if there's still a way to fly out. Not like it's better to stay here until they find us!" He picked a metal door at the top of the stairs, and I immediately felt relieved to be breathing (by Wasteland standards at least) fresh air again. I'm not sure what bothered me more, the horrid smell that permeated the entire building, or how fast I stopped noticing it. 

We walked to the edge of the roof and peeked over the short railing. Sure enough the raiders were already starting to settle down, the smoke cloud left over from Finders distraction (which he explained was a mine he wired to a timer so it would go off whether somepony stepped on it or not) rapidly dissipating. I looked to Finder hoping he had some kind of backup plan, but he merely shrugged. I backed up from the roof and started taking any none essential things out of my bags.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking as much out of my bags as I can. I’m going to have to fly fast if we’re going to make it, and I can’t afford to have this stuff slowing me down.”

“You still want to fly out?” He looked at me incredulously but he started taking the heavier items out of his bags as well.

“Do you have a better plan?” He didn’t reply so I took that as a no. “Alright all aboard Pegasus Airlines, next stop anywhere but here.” I barely felt his weight climb on my back, and he wrapped his forelegs around my neck. 

“Think you can fly faster than they can aim?”

I smirked and backed up as far as I could. “I’m planning on flying faster than they can draw.” I got a running start and flew off the roof as fast as my wings could carry me, the only thing I could hear over the screaming wind was the screaming pony on my back. He must have never moved this fast before. As soon as I left the roof I closed my eyes hoping to overcome that feeling of falling. Unfortunately it didn’t work for long, and I had to fight harder than ever before to stay in the air. 

Before long I had to open my eyes to get my bearings, and to my surprise we had already flown over the wall! Which was good because I quickly started tumbling out of the sky. I had plenty of experience with hard landings, but Finder didn't. So right before I hit the ground I bucked him skyward a little to slow his fall. Unfortunately that meant I hit the ground faster than normal, which hurt. A lot. We rolled and slid on the ground for several feet, finally coming to a stop on the other side if the small hill we came from earlier.

“We made it! I can’t believe we made it! They never even saw us! Why didn't you tell me you could go that fast?”

I groaned in response and rolled onto my hooves. Pain! Sure enough I hurt my right hindleg. It probably wasn’t too bad but I wouldn’t be walking on it soon. I stood up holding my leg off the ground, and gave my wings an experimental flap- Ow! Okay so no flying either. Well this sucks.

“Oh goddesses that was so awesome! That was the escape of a lifetime!” His cheeriness was starting to bother me, but all bruises and injuries aside that could have gone much worse so I couldn’t help but smile anyways. “Told you I could fly faster than they could draw!”

“Ahem.”

We both froze as the third voice boomed over our laughs. Behind us stood the tallest pony I’d seen yet. And behind him stood dozens of raiders armed head to hoof in spikes and guns. “Looks like we got some new toys.”

“Oh come on!”


_______________



Within minutes we were tied to large wooden posts in a corner of the fort. The bloodstains around us gave me a good idea of what kind of activities went on here. The stallion leading the raiders that caught us said he had to go speak to the “Boss”, and he commanded the other raiders to leave us alone until he came back. Small favors I guess.

My wing was yelling its protests in my mind as it chaffed against the splintering wood, and my hurt leg was in too much pain to think about. They made me walk on it the whole way back! “Hey Finder I have a great idea. How about we go and rob a fort! Full of angry raiders!”

“Sorry! I really thought this would work. And now your hurt and we’re probably going to die. I’m so useless.”

“Hey what did I tell you about saying that? We aren’t dead yet, who knows maybe they’ll ask us to join them. Raiders aren’t exactly bright if you haven’t noticed.” I wish they were a little less smart though, they took my wingblades then searched me to make sure I didn’t have any other weapons.

Night had already fallen by the time our captor came back, and when he did he had a scowl on his face. “Consider yourselves lucky, the boss said he wants you for himself. Selfish bastard. We’ll take you to him in the morning, so you better enjoy your last night alive.” I shared a look with Finder as the raider grumbled and walked off. He left two raider bucks to watch us, much to my chagrin. 

One of them turned and looked at me with a leery smile I didn’t like one bit. “Hey Meats you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Don’t even think about it Pins, if the boss finds out he’ll kill you.”

“We’re the only ones out here right? So if I don’t tell him, and you don’t tell him, then how can he know?” 

“I still don’t think this is a good idea. What if she tells him?”

“Let the bitch say what she wants, he’ll be too busy cutting her up to listen anyways.”

I was really not liking where this conversation was going. “Hey do I get a say in this?” They ignored me completely.

“I still don’t want any part of this. Look I’m gonna go piss, just do it before I get back.” The buck walked around a corner and out of sight.

“Oh I’m gonna do it all right.” He started skulking towards me, and I sank back against the wood post.

“Look why don’t we just talk this over? I’m sure we can come to some kind of deal or-“ I was silenced as his hoof struck my cheek.

“Shut up bitch, I’m getting what I want and you aren’t, that’s the deal.”

“Leave her alone!” The raider growled and turned to Finder.

“Shut up filly or you’ll be next!”

He turned back to me and time seemed to slow down for the next few moments. It wasn’t so much that his head exploded, it just wasn’t there anymore. The loud bang that followed sounded like it came from all directions at once. Then a second bang, much louder than the first, lit up the night sky with deafening violence. More gunfire roared than I had ever imagined, and soon Meats came running around the corner followed closely behind by a hail of bullets.

“Pins! Some crazy mare is… WHAT THE F-“ His head disappeared followed by another distant boom.

The gunfight raged on in the fort, whoever was attacking was very determined to win. We were protected by nothing more than an old collapsing house. At least we were until a rocket hit it, leaving my mind reeling and my lungs fighting for air in the dust cloud. When the dust settled I got a good sight of the pony crazy enough to attack a raider fort head on.

It was AN attacker, just one pony! The mare with a pink coat and aqua blue mane stood in the center of town holding more guns in her telekinesis than I’d ever seen in one place before! She wore the most sophisticated armor I’d ever seen too. It was a silver breastplate, greaves, and backplate with dark blue outlines. It was polished perfectly clean and to my astonishment it was completely scratch free.

I soon found out why.  One of the raiders braved the open space long enough to throw a grenade before being torn to pieces by the mare’s firepower. I panicked when it landed right in front of her feet, but as soon as it exploded a vibrant golden aura appeared around her that blocked the entire explosion! A shield spell! She was using that much telekinesis and a shield spell at the same time!

The fight barely lasted more than a minute before the last of the raiders in sight were slaughtered. The mare sat and admired her work before noticing us. She cantered over to us with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Hi I’m Smiles! What's your names?”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Level Up:

Sneaky Pinkie: You're becoming more practiced with the art of stealing and sneaking, giving you +5 to sneak and +5 to lockpicking.
> Chapter 5 A Hoof Out the Door...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I was just a filly, I didn’t have many ponies around to take care of me. Sure Mayor Laps raised me like she was my own grandmother, but before Sandy’s family moved into town I was usually on my own. That’s why I spent most of my time in Mr. General’s store listening to the caravaners and merchants tell stories. I always loved hearing about life in the wasteland, about the adventures and the danger. Sometimes they would tell stories I was probably too young to hear, but the wasteland doesn’t let innocence last long anyways. Other times I met ponies that still make my hair stand up when I think about them.

I remember one pony far too well. One day a dusty old stallion came walking into town looking for somepony. After asking around he came into Mr. General’s store to buy some supplies for a long trip. I asked him where he was going, and he looked at me with the most hollow looking eyes I’d ever seen. 

“It doesn’t matter where I’m going, and it doesn’t matter where I’ve been. It doesn’t even matter where I am. But do you know what does matter, little filly?”

I shook my head as he took a few steps closer. “Happiness. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, so long as you’re happy doing it. And do you know what makes me happy?” I shook my head again but he just kept stepping closer to me.

“Making ponies smile. That makes me happier than anything else in the whole world. And do you know what the easiest way is to make somepony smile?” By now I was backed into the corner and he was right on top of me. “By holding a gun to their head.”



_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _



“What am I looking at?” I stared down at the grotesque canned sludge that I was told to eat. “Did you at least kill it before you gave it to me? I swear I just saw it move.”

Finder didn’t seem to have the same reservations about the 'food', he dug in with gusto and even getting seconds. “Oh stop whining it’s perfectly safe. Plus it tastes good!”

“Yeah I think I’ll just stick to eating food that’s still edible thank you very much. I’m going to go check on the others.” Turns out the cages in The Black 9 had quite a few living ponies in them from their last raid, and it was with great effort (until Smiles walked in and just started shooting the locks off of the cages…) that we freed all of them. I got up to walk away but a hoof pulled me back.

“Just don’t go wandering around alright?” It was mildly annoying that he was treating me like some lost filly, but after what I saw in the casino I can’t say I didn’t appreciate the concern. I returned his worried look with a grateful smile. 

“Okay I promise.” After sliding my share of the not-food over to him, I walked off in the direction of the large casino. Okay my hoof was still pretty messed up so it was more of a hobble, but you get the idea. Smiles made quick work of the raiders both inside and out, and after the attack everyone decided it was a good place to rest for a while.

I walked onto the casino floor and was relieved to see that it had been (mostly) cleaned of the raider decorations and bodies. The cages had all been stacked in one corner of the room, the few remaining occupants were lying around the room in disbelief. I received a few ‘thank you’s‘ as I hobbled my way through the room, apparently these ponies assumed I helped Smiles attack the fort.

It didn’t take long to find the pony I was looking for, the unicorn was sitting at the back of the room surrounded by a dozen colts and fillies. He had a light brown coat, amber eyes, and a white mane/tail. Somehow in the midst of this hellish landscape he still seemed to carry an easy smile and calm nature, even now when surrounded by nearly a dozen whining and crying children.

“I’m hungry!” “I want my parents!” “Where’s my mommy!” “What’s that smell?”

He continued fumbling around with some bandages as he tried to make a colt sit still, completely unperturbed by the chaos around him. “Now children one at a time please, I can only pull so many tricks out of this bag of mine. And will you please stop moving I’m trying to bandage your leg.” That seemed to calm a few of the older ones but most were still complaining. 

He finished bandaging the colt’s leg, and once he saw me he shooed the children to the side so he could look at my injuries. “I see the Angel of the Wastes has come to grace me with her presence. How’s your wing and leg doing? Still having headaches? Back pains?”

I smiled but sat down with a ‘humph’ in what he proudly called his 'clinic'. “Airem, I told you to stop calling me that… Anyways no more headaches or back pains, and my leg’s doing much better. My wing’s still pretty stiff though, and it hurts to move it even a little.”

He stepped to my side to get a better look, and after some poking and prodding (and maybe a less than dignified yelp or two from me…) he sat down in front of me with a frown. “Sorry I’ve never treated a pegasus before, so I’m just winging it here.” Somewhere in the room I heard at least one facehoof. “Really all I can do is give you something for the pain and wish you the best of luck, sorry.”

I smiled and patted him on the back with my good wing. “That’s alright you’ve already done more than I could have asked for. How’s everypony else doing?”

He sighed and for once actually looked genuinely displeased about something. “Honestly? No idea. Every time I try to look at some of the older ponies, one of the children have some other tragedy I have to attend too. I understand that their kids and this is no place for a child to be, but I have to think about everypony not just the whiny ones…”

I scratched my chin as an idea came to me. “I think I can help with that.” I got up and walked to where one of the fillies was sitting alone. “Hello there my name’s Updraft, what’s your name?”

She looked at me hesitantly, but after seeing Airem smiling at her she loosened up a little. “Updraft? That’s a funny name. My name’s Clockwork.” And my name is weird?

“Could you do me a big favor?” I pointed across the room to where a table was sitting. “See I’m all hurt and covered in bandages, so could you bring me the candle that’s sitting on that table?” She glanced at me questioningly but did as I asked. “Alright now pay very close attention okay? I’m going to do a magic trick.”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Airem watching me with curiosity as well, probably expecting some kind of trick involving sleight of hoof or an illusion. He sure was in for a surprise! I stood the candle upright on the floor and draped my good wing over it. After ensuring that Clockwork was watching, I focused hard on my magic. A few moments later I removed my wing from the candle, leaving a small flame burning at the top. Clockwork smiled and clapped her hooves, but Airem wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“Wait, wait, wait! How did you just do that?! That shouldn’t be possible! You shouldn’t be possible!” He ran over to observe the candle more closely before staring at me, expecting an answer. 

I smiled innocently and flicked his horn with my wing. “Magic silly!” 


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Children. I always did like playing with the kids at Desert Springs. Seeing them smile just seemed to make my day a little better every time. There was even a point in time that I entertained the idea of having a few of my own. But now, surrounded by this many of them after performing my “magic trick” for probably the twentieth time… I quickly locked those thoughts away in a safe, buried it, built a house on top (concrete foundation for good measure), and promptly moved in just to make sure no one else ever accidentally dug them up. 

I looked over the throng of kids at Airem, giving him a pleading look. He simply shrugged before turning back to his most recent patient, a pegasus mare with a soft blue coat and white mane. Her Cutie mark was a trio of snowflakes with several curved lines going between them. Wait a minute… pegasus!

“Alright sorry kids show’s over!” There were several ‘awws’ as I looked around the room until I saw Finder examining the slot machines. “But I have a super cool friend to show you guys come on!” I walked across the room as fast as my beaten body could, a veritable mob of children and adults alike following me. Stopping next to Finder I put my hoof around his neck and swung him around to face the crowd. “This is Finder, and he has something to tell you all about the dangers of playing with Killing Joke, as well as why you should never try to rob a fort full of angry raiders. You’ve got the floor!”

I grinned and walked away as he stuttered and tried to process so many questions at once. I felt kind of bad for him, but he needed to get used to talking to more ponies anyways, and I really needed to get away from them for a few moments. I walked back to Airem to talk with that pegasus mare, but she was already walking into the back hallway! I rushed to catch up to her, agitating my injuries and causing the pain to flare up.

As she disappeared around the corner I shouted “Wait for me!” to which she surprisingly obliged immediately. I rounded the corner into the dark hallway and immediately tripped over myself as I tried to not ram into her. As I groaned and looked up at the ceiling from the floor, I had but one thought going through my mind: best first impression ever. Of all time.

“Umm hello?” I quickly scrambled to my hooves and tried to keep what little dignity I had left. “I’m terribly sorry, are you hurt?” She had put on a tattered brown cloak which covered her whole body, but I was sure I could see the glint of steel underneath.

Actually yes, that hurt a lot. “No I’m fine. Sorry I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I offered a sheepish smile as I moved aside to let a group of ragged looking ponies rush into the casino floor. My years as a guard helped me notice they all seemed to be hiding weapons in their barding, but I didn’t think much of it. They looked fairly well off, maybe they were with Smiles and Airem?

“No it’s my fault I shouldn’t have stopped where ponies are walking. Sorry.” Is she serious? Okay then…

“Oh right! You’re a pegasus that’s so awesome!” 

“Really? I mean I haven’t seen any other pegasi down here, but so far most ponies just give me dirty looks…” She tilted her head downwards, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

I let out a deep breath and put my hoof on her shoulder. “I know what you mean. Growing up in Desert Springs was hard; I constantly got bullied and picked on even by the adults.”

“Wait you grew up down here? What happened did you fall below the clouds when you were a filly or something?” She had a motherly look on her face as she put both her forehooves on my shoulders.

Wait how did she turn this situation around so fast? “Fall below the… no I was born down here. I think. Miss Laps said she found me in a basket outside the front door of our town hall one night, so I’m not really sure.” 

“Oh good I’ve heard all kinds of stories about little colts and fillies who barely know how to fly falling below the cloud layer and being unable to fly back up.” She showed an expression of relief before a realization hit her, and she was treating me like a helpless kid again. “Oh my goodness so you never knew your parents? That’s a horrible thing for somepony to have to go through, you must have been so lonely!”

“Yes, I was.” Honestly that was massive understatement. I mean yeah mayor Laps was always there when I woke up and went to bed, but during the day I was pretty much on my own. And of course if me being a pegasus wasn’t enough of a reason for others to pick on me, the fact that nopony really cared to help just made it worse.

I heard a shout followed by a loud thump! as something hit a wall in the casino floor. Not good. We turned and rushed through the door, only to see that the situation was about as bad as possible. The group I saw earlier was pushing ponies around and herding them to a far corner of the room. I could barely make Airem out of the crowd, he was placing himself between the children and the bad guys.

I looked to my right and saw Finder crumpled to the floor with a large, burly stallion standing over him. He didn’t look good, his head was bleeding and he barely looked conscience. The large buck’s voice boomed over the shouting of the others. “Where is the pegasus? Tell me or I’ll see if I can’t throw you through the wall this time!”

I’d seen enough. I darted to the stallion as fast as I could and tackled him off of Finder. At least that’s what I tried to do, what really happened was I ran about six steps before nearly collapsing against the wall as pain shot through my injured leg. He turned to me and snarled. “Well look who showed up to the party. We’ve come a long way looking for you.”

“Well you did walk right past me in that hallway…” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. If they couldn’t find me when they were that close, it’s a wonder they can even get dressed in the mornings.

A scraggly pony trotted next to the stallion whom I correctly assumed to be their leader. “See boss told you I saw wings under those bandages, if you’d listen to me just once maybe-“. He was cut off by his head being slammed into the floor hard enough to splinter the old hard wood. That stallion was strong! He looked back at me with a disgusting grin.

“Alright filly this is how this is gonna go. I don’t give a shit about you or anypony else in this room, I just want my caps. So you’re going to come quietly or a lot of ponies are gonna die.” To emphasize his point a unicorn mare standing near me pulled a combat shotgun out of her barding with her magic. Six shots, semi-automatic. This could get very ugly, very fast if I didn’t play this right.

The only thing I could do to ensure nopony got hurt was to go with them, that much was obvious. The stallion put his hoof and a lot of his weight on Finder’s chest, and as Finder struggled to breath I lost any will to fight them. “Al… alright. I’ll go with you, just don’t hurt anypony.”

I couldn’t believe it but the timid pegasus stepped between me and the annoyed leader. “Now you listen here you big- big bully! You’re not taking her anywhere and that’s final!” She was shaking like a bloatsprite in a sandstorm, but her eyes remained firmly locked with the burly stallion. I noticed her left wing and foreleg tensed, ready to throw off her cloak. 

I have trouble explaining what happened next, and all that I can say is that a force like none I’d ever seen before lifted the gang leader off of the floor and pressed him firmly against the wall. I vaguely remember seeing the massive red stallion in the crowd earlier, but I never imagined he would be so strong and fast! He kept the gang leader lifted from the floor with just one hoof despite his fervent struggling. 

“Now you listen to me son, I’ve got someplace to be, and I’m not going to let somepony as weak as you keep me from getting there. And to be honest, I don’t appreciate you beating on the little one’s either.” The giant of a pony threw the gang leader through a nearby window without any hint of effort. He turned to the closest ganger, who promptly jumped out of the window after his leader.

That left six gangers total. One with the combat shotgun, one with some kind of scoped rifle, two with semi-auto pistols, one with a revolver, and one with a… shovel? He seems slightly underequipped… pFNG’s…

For several long moments nopony dared to make the first move. But finally someone decided to ease the tension in the air, and as per usual Smiles did it with over-the-top flair. She crashed down through the ceiling in between the gangers and the mass of ponies huddled in the far side of the room. “Did somepony say party?” And then the world exploded.

I dragged my fellow pegasus to the floor with me and hoped we didn’t get shot while Smiles destroyed the room around her. When she finally stopped shooting her throng of weapons the floor was covered in empty bullet casings, the room was full of smoke and the smell of gunpowder, and one ganger still stood in the middle of it all shaking and most definitely wetting himself. So Smiles couldn’t bring herself to shoot someone who only had a shovel to defend himself with? “Huh, I missed one. Hold on give me a sec.” 

“Wait don’t shoot him! I want to know why these guys were after me.” I rose and hobbled over to the pony barely old enough to be called a stallion, who quickly hid behind me.

“Don’t let her shoot me I don’t want to die! This was my first job and I’ll never do it again I swear just let me go!” I couldn’t help but believe him, his Cutie Mark was a wagon of all things! Not exactly proper gang material if you ask me.

“That’s your problem. These guys threatened my quarry, so I’m gonna deal with them down to the last pony.” She telekinetically slid me aside and raised one of her many weapon to point at the trembling buck. 

“No!” Again my fellow pegasus positioned herself in front of someone who couldn’t defend themselves, but this time she looked far more fierce. She had thrown off the ugly brown cloak she wore, and was now staring at Smiles with two of the most impressive sub-machine guns I’ve ever seen. They only had mild damage, the oiled steel glistening in the light coming from the windows. They each had belt feeds that ran below the guns and into large ammo boxes on either side of her.  

Perhaps the most impressive part was the pristine condition the battle saddle was in. It looked like it was hoof made this morning! She looked across the room at Smiles, her mouth hanging less than an inch from the bit. “I will not let you kill him! Haven’t enough ponies died already?” I loved this mare. I could already tell she was going to be someone I could look up to.

Smiles laughed (How dare she!) and started looting the dead gangers. “Gotta say I admire your guts…” After a few tense moments she looked up and put her gun back down. “Alright fine he can live, but if I were you I wouldn’t leave him alone with me.” She winked before hopping through the broken window. 

I’m not sure how I felt about her particular kind of crazy. On one hoof she did save us, but she only did it for the caps, and she seems to place money over the lives of ponies. And that bothered me even more than raiders. I looked over at my new pegasus friend. She was still standing still, her muscled tensed up as she stared at the window. I placed a hoof on her shoulder and she finally let out a breath, nearly collapsing to the floor.

“Oh my goodness. I really did that just now didn’t I?” She looked on the verge of tears, and I wrapped her in a loose hug. I knew healing potions were some of the best things for healing physically wounds, but hugs seemed to help with a lot more sometimes.

“You sure did. Twice in fact, and I’m very grateful.” After a few deep breaths we parted and she went to collect her cloak. I was much more interested in the nervous looking buck trying to sneak his way to the back door. “So my newest bestest friend, I believe we have something to talk about…”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


“HE WHAT?!?” I spit my Sparkle Cola~ all over the ground in front of me. After the fiasco inside the casino everypony decided to go outside and get some fresh air. A little bit of scavenging and Finder came back with some bullets, a few caps, and with the help from a giant red earth pony, an entire vending machine full of somewhat cold soda. (Yay!)

“I’m serious! That’s what he told the boss! I said he was crazy but nopony listens to the new guys…” The young buck seemed much more relaxed now that Smiles was out of sight, but he still looked over his shoulder every time he thought he heard somepony behind him. “That guy’s a real creep, no wonder you left.”

Finder was holding one of the bottles against his bandaged head when he turned to me with his eyebrows raised. “So let me get this straight. This sleaze ball happens to be the leader of a big gang, he takes some kind of creepy fancy to you, and so you hightail it out of town. And now he’s paying mercenaries to find you and bring you back? And you were planning on telling me this when?”

“Well how was I supposed to know the crazy pony was going to chase me this far? Seriously with his influence he could have a hundred other mares in his bedroom every night! I don’t get it…” 

My pegasus friend put a hoof on my shoulder and shot me a sympathetic smile. “Good, if you did understand it then I’d be concerned about you.” That got a few laughs from everypony, and it was nice for once that everypony was able to sit and talk without somepony pulling a gun…or several.

Several of the colts and fillies ran up and tugged at Finder’s tail. “Come on! Let’s play hide and seek!” “Yeah come play with us!” He looked at me and shrugged before running off with them, head injury forgotten. I looked across the street to see Airem sitting in some shade, looking distraught as he counted out his remaining medical supplies. We must have used up nearly everything he had, I’d be sure to repay him for it if I ever got the chance. I nearly jumped as the deep voice of the massive red buck rose over the chatting of the small crowd.

“It’s time for me to go, I have somewhere I need to be. Thank you all for the help.” He looked at the sky, gauging the time before turning to me. “If you’re ever around Baltimare and those ponies are still giving you trouble, find me and I’ll see if I can’t help you out. Name’s Boxer.” And with that he left, everypony who had gathered near us giving him wide berth as he walked past.

“Boxer… that’s a nice name.” I turned to see the blue pegasus sitting next to me watch him go before turning to me with a smile. “And my name’s Bora, pleasure to meet you.”

“Updraft, and it’s nice to meet you too.”

“Updraft… I like that name too.” 

Everypony stayed and talked for a while, but I needed a little time by myself to think.  A month ago I‘d barely even seen a dead body, much less a fight to the death. But already I had seen the death of over forty ponies, three of which I killed myself. It… was a lot to take in, even without thinking about what I saw in that casino.

I decided to walk around the fort and see the wall they had built. Really it didn’t look so bad in most places, it seems like whoever started building was trying to make as strong as possible but something happened and he had to hurry and finish it. Some places of the wall were just pieces of scrap metal piled together, several holes big enough for a pony going all the way to the other side. When I came to the gate my attention was immediately drawn to the two bucks walking outside. They had just finished throwing the last of the ganger bodies into a pile with the rest of the raiders, and were making their way back inside. 

I frowned at that. Sure they were raiders and scumbags, but they were still ponies. They deserved better than that, right? After a brief trot (my leg was starting to feel much better!) I walked back outside of the fort carrying the ganger’s shovel. It tasted gross, but I was willing to put up with it so long as I didn’t get a disease or something. It took me several minutes but I finally had the first grave dug.

I carried the body of the ganger mare who had the combat shotgun, gently laying it into the grave. I didn’t really have anything to say, I didn’t know anything about her. So instead I just had a moment of silence before covering the grave and using a small pile of rocks in place of a headstone. I wasn’t sure when I started crying, but now that I started I couldn’t seem to stop. It’s a lot easier to justify killing somepony when you don’t stop to bury them.

Looking up through wet eyes I could see Finder watching me with a sad smile. “It’s going to take you all day if you do this by yourself doofus.” He hugged me briefly before pulling out another shovel and started digging a few yards away. 

After a few moments of digging I spit out my shovel. “Finder? Would you mind… would you mind helping me bury all of those children inside too? They… they deserve to be buried… to be…” remembered, I wanted to say. I just couldn’t get my aching heart to say anything else. I knew I really had no right to ask something like that of him, but I wasn’t sure I could go back in there alone.

He nodded his head without hesitation, then dropped his shovel outside of the hole he was digging. “You’re going to do this every time aren’t you? No matter if they’re raiders, slavers, or anything else. You’re still going to stop and bury them.” I couldn’t help but meekly nod my head before I kept digging. “Well I guess I’ll have to find a way to keep a few shovels around just in case.” 

This time it was my turn to hug him, but soon we both fell to the silent task of burying the many dead ponies before us. It took the better part of the day but we finally put all the dead ponies to rest in proper graves. I asked Bora to keep the children occupied elsewhere while we fetched the defiled corpses from inside The Black 9. 

I was surprised so many of the ponies were still here after Smiles left. Turns out she was only here to rescue a hoof full of ponies, all of which were preparing to leave with Airem at the moment. “So you work for Smiles?” I asked him as he took one last look at Finder’s head before he too made his preparations to leave. 

“More like I work with her really. We’re not really like the griffon mercenaries though, far from. Griffon’s work independently in almost every situation, with a few exceptions such as RedEye’s griffons or the ones working near Shattered Hoof Ridge. See we’re different because we all work together, nopony being more important than the other. We all form up an organization called The Shadow of Light.”

“The Shadow of Light?” Finder echoed as he tapped a hoof to his chin. “Never heard of it.”

Airem turned to us with a knowing smile. “And that’s exactly the point. We do what we can to help those in need, only accepting minimal payments if any. But we never spread our name: that would defeat the point of our work. Think about an organization of any kind doing something good in the Wasteland, any kind of good.” I thought about the stories I’ve heard about Friendship City, and how they offered to give shelter to any who came.

“Now that’s all fine and dandy, but as an entire group of ponies it’s really hard to put a face to that good action, right? It’s just not quite as impactful because you don’t really know the full extent of their abilities. Maybe they’re barely giving you a fraction of what they have, or maybe they’re giving you everything they own. You just can’t tell. But,” he accented with a hoofstomp. “if a single pony were to help you, completely devoid of some higher political reason, it seems much more sincere doesn’t it?”

I thought back to all the times Finder has helped me in the past few days. About how much I loved it whenever Mayor Lapps would bring me a Sparkle Cola~ when I was a filly. I was beginning to understand what he meant. “So you help ponies without telling them you’re part of an organization, so they’ll think it was just another wastelander trying to do the right thing?”

“Exactly! We’re trying to help ponies help themselves. We’re trying to give them hope, not just in pony kind but also that they can do better, be better. That someday when they see somepony else in trouble, they’ll remember what we did for them and they’ll do the right thing too.” 

These all seemed like noble intentions, and I certainly could respect what they were trying to do. But… “But you have to fund all of this somehow right? I’m sure you guys scavenge a lot and sell what you can, but all of this,” I motioned to all of the ponies littering the empty street, most of which were wrapped in bandages and carrying firearms acquired from the raiders. “has to cost a lot of caps.”

He sighed and for once since our conversation started he seemed without his contagious enthusiasm. “Yes it does, more than you know. We do have another source of income rather than selling loot and charging for jobs like this, but sometimes I’m ashamed to say we get by with more caps than we should. Sometimes I think the others interpret ‘minimal payment’ a bit differently.” I had a feeling he thought Smiles was in that group.

“Well it appears we must be off, the client for this job is quite impatient after all. Good luck on your journey, Angel of the Wastes!” After nodding to the three ponies nearby they all trotted through the fort’s gates and out of sight. 

“I told you not to call me that!” I shouted as my cheeks turned red, but I doubt he heard me. Finder was just rolling on the floor laughing, so I got up and walked away to find Bora. “I don’t have to subject myself to this!”

He just kept giggling while I walked off, my face getting redder by the second. “No wait, come back and tell me what pony heaven is like!” I wanted to kick him, but all I could do was smile as I trotted off. After searching I found Bora where I’d least expected, on the roof of The Black 9 staring at the clouds above. I sat down beside her and immediately noticed she had been crying and was doing a poor job of hiding it.

“You came from up there, didn’t you?” I asked it as a question, but the answer was pretty obvious. Nopony who grew up in the wasteland could be as polite a she was.

“It’s not something I like to talk about sorry.” Well I messed that one up. I tried to think of a subject change to get me out of this proverbial minefield.

“So what were you doing here anyways? I mean not down here, I mean like… here in this place…” Smooth one. She smiled and pat my back with a wing (So that’s what that felt like when I did that to other ponies!).

“I know what you meant. I was traveling with a merchant caravan along the slaver route. We heard some fighting ahead in the old mining town and decided to take a detour. Unfortunately we go too close to raider territory. Long story short they captured me, but the rest got away. I think that group that brought you two in was looking for them, but I guess they didn’t find them.”

Now I felt terrible. I was the reason for the fighting in the mining town, if I hadn’t been so stupid she never would have gotten caught up in this mess. I told her as much.

“No it’s not your fault, in fact if it hadn’t been for you we would have walked right into those five slavers. If anything you saved us all, really.” Seriously how does she keep turning things around on me so easily? “Anyways I suppose I need to be going, I’m sure the others are waiting for me at the next stop on the route.”

She stood and flapped her wings a few times, causing me to do the same but noticeable slower and with a wince. “Are your wings hurt?” I nodded and extended my bandaged right wing. “Oh my goodness who did this? These bandages are much too tight! Sit down and let me look.” It made me feel like a little filly again but I did as she asked.

She gently removed the bandages and fussed over the condition of my wings. “Your feathers are all out of place, you really should take better care of them.” They are? I never really had anyone to tell me how to take care of my wings, I just did what thought was best for them. Unfortunately none of my books covered the care of wings except for explanation on how to do some warmups before seriously exerting them.

I ducked my head sheepishly. “Sorry I never had anyone to tell me how. Could you… could you show me? I mean if you don’t want to I understand this is probably a weird question to ask and-“ She shushed me with a hoof.

“Of course I’ll show you. No pegasus should have to learn something like this without help. Now…” She began to instruct me on how to properly remove feathers that were in the way of new ones that needed to regrow, how to arrange them correctly, and all the other finer points of “preening” as she called it. I felt embarrassed that I even had to ask this, but she reassured me saying it’s not something anypony could know without being taught.

After we finished I was sitting in a small pile of feathers she instructed me to pull out, and my wings looked far better. I frowned as I compared them to Bora’s: hers still looked much better, healthier. But it was a start, and my wings no longer felt so sore. She assured me it would take time for them to look like they should, but I would still fly with pride now that I actually knew how to care for my wings properly. Bora wrapped the bandages around my scraped up wing much more loosely than before, and let out a sigh of relief as she looked at her work.

“I’m no doctor but your wing wasn’t injured too badly. I’d say drink a healing potion tonight before you sleep and you should be able to fly by the morning. Be sure to take the bandages off before you sleep though, your feathers will need the cool air.” I couldn’t help reaching over and giving her a sidelong hug.

“Thank you so much! Ponies always make fun of my wings, but I don’t know what I’d do without them.” She giggled and hugged me back.

“No problem, I couldn’t possible leave anypony hurting like that when I could help. I really must be going though, I imagine my Brahmin friend is worried sick about me.” Yeah she would be the type of pony to be friends with a Brahmin, I mused in my head.

“Okay well you take care then, don’t get caught by any more raiders.”

“Well if I do then you’ll just have to come rescue me again!” She called out as she flew from the rooftop with a speed that betrayed her shy nature.

“It wasn’t even me! Smiles did all the fighting!” I knew she didn’t hear me, but seriously this reputation thing was getting annoying. 

“Ready to leave yet, oh great slayer of raiders and Angel of the Wastes?” I heard Finder snickering behind me.

“Oh that’s it! Come ‘ere you!” I chased him back inside the casino with a smile and a newfound warmth in my heart. Maybe leaving Desert Springs wasn’t such a bad thing after all.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Quest Perk!

Social Pony – Ponies find you easy to talk to, and are more likely to treat you as a friend, for better or for worse. +5 Charisma

Character Updates!

Name: Smiles
Gender: female
Race: Unicorn
Age: 22
Appearance: Aqua Blue mane/tail; pink coat; green eyes.
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: average
Occupation: mercenary
Weapons of choice: All of them. Any weapon that goes bang is her friend, and the bigger the bang the happier she is. 
Skillset: Exceptional skill with telekinesis. She can’t lift any objects that are very heavy, but she can lift a large number of objects at once, and manipulate each one with astonishing effectiveness.

Name: Bora
Gender: Female
Race: Pegasus
Age: 18
Appearance: light blue coat; white mane/tail; lavender eyes
Cutie Mark: a trio of snowflakes with several curved lines going between them
Size: average
Occupation: Caravaner
Weapons of Choice: A dual SMG battlesaddle that was custom made.
Skillset: N/A

Name: Boxer
Gender: Male
Race: Earth Pony
Age: 32
Appearance: Red coat with brown eyes/mane/tail, both of which are cut short.
Cutie Mark: A stone tower like you would find on a chess board
Size: Massive. Like this guy is a building among ponies. (Descendant of Snowflake?)
Occupation: N/A
Weapons of Choice: N/A
Skillset: N/A

> Chapter 6 And Straight Into Hell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I walked through the darkness completely alone, barely able to see my own hooves through the swirling mist surrounding me. “Finder? Bora… Anypony?” My voice seemed so distant, like it wasn’t even mine. Suddenly the mist gave way to several pony-like shapes in the distance. “Who’s there?” Why did my voice seem so shaky? So… scared?
 
The shapes approached me slowly, and I recognized them as the slavers I killed before. They were covered in blood and gaping wounds. Wounds I had caused. “Why?” They whispered to me in unison. “Why did you kill us? You didn’t have to, but you wanted to. Why did you kill us?” Again and again they asked as they slowly approached me.
 
“Stay back! I-I didn’t have a choice, you were just going to keep on hurting other ponies!” I tried to back away but I somehow had my back against a wall. I turned to see the horrid wall inside The Black 9, covered with the desecrated corpses of children. The faces were all turned to me, pain written across their faces.
 
“You didn’t save us. Why didn’t you save us! Why won’t you help us!?” Their voices grew louder and louder as they continued to ask. I turned to run only to find the slavers from before had surrounded me. “Why did you kill us you monster! Why!?” They continued to walk closer to me, always yelling, always asking.
 

 

 
I awoke gasping for air and covered in sweat. I couldn’t feel them but I knew tears had to be streaming down my face. I turned to see Finder sitting in the doorway to the little shack with a conflicted expression on his face. He dropped his ears before walking out of sight, leaving me alone in the dark room again. It took a few minutes to compose myself but I finally built up the courage to walk outside with him. He was sitting next to the door staring up into the clouded skies, trying to get a glimpse of the moon.
 
“Bad dream?” He looked at me with a wry smile.
 
“Yeah you could say that…” I felt a little pathetic as I continued to sniffle, but Finder didn’t seem to mind.
 
“Want to talk about it?”
 
“Not really…” I didn’t even want to remember it, much less talk about it. Seeing those things once was bad enough, but now that I was starting to see them in my sleep I don’t think I’ll look forward to taking naps for a long time.
 
“Hey we’re friends right?” I nodded and pawed at the dirt with a hoof. “Well as your friend I want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” I flinched a little as he placed a hoof on my shoulder, but I couldn’t help but give in to his kind words.
 
“Okay you’re right. But if I start crying again you’re responsible got it?” After taking a few deep breaths I told him about the nightmare I had. His first reaction was to hug me until I stopped crying again, but after that all he could do is scratch his head.
 
“I got nothing. I mean I believe most dreams mean something, but honestly I have no idea about this one. Was that the first time you’ve ever killed a pony before?”
 
“Finder that was the first time I’ve ever seen a dead pony before. There was only one funeral in Desert Springs when I lived there, and Miss Lapps made me stay home since it was raining and I was still little.”
 
He tapped his chin for a moment before shrugging. “If you ask me that dream seems like a good thing honestly.” He walked back into the shack and started packing his things.
 
I followed and did the same as I thought about his answer. “How could something that horrible possibly be a good thing?” I wasn’t comfortable talking about the subject at all. More than anything I wanted to bury those memories some place deep in the back of my mind. But still Finder is my friend and he’s given me nothing but good advice so far… well mostly good advice but still.
 
“Well the way I see it…” Okay seriously how did he talk so perfectly while holding things in his mouth? “You’re having bad dreams about seeing dead ponies right? More specifically ponies who didn’t really need to die right? Well seems to me it bothers you that innocent ponies are getting hurt. That’s just perfectly normal.”
 
I picked up Commander Hurricane’s journal and looked at the old worn cover. Time certainly hasn’t been kind to the old book, the cover was cracked and the edges were frayed. But it was in good condition considering how old it is. I’ll never forget the first night I started to read it next to the fireplace in town hall. It took me nearly an hour just to read the first paragraph but I felt on top of the world when Miss Lapps said she was proud of me. Finder startled me out of my reverie by tapping a hoof on my shoulder.
 
“…ready? Sun’s going down we should really get moving. It’s best to only move at night.”
 
“Huh? Oh umm yeah I’m ready, why at night again?” I wrapped the old book in my blanket and gently set it in one my bags before sliding them over my back and following Finder outside.
 
“Hellhounds mostly hunt by smell, but their eyesight is just as good as a pony’s and with as many of them as there are, going by day is just suicide. Going at night lets us ignore that problem for the most part. We’ll head through an old military camp just outside of town, I usually find a few good things in there and we can use the cover to get into Las Pegasus without them noticing.”
 
“Okay but what about their smell? I heard they can smell twice as good as any pony.” Finder grimaced but we started walking at a fast pace by his lead.
 
“Oh they can smell way better than that. But we always had a way to fix that, don’t worry about it. The biggest problem is the radiation. Like I said before the zebras hated this place so they hit it with at least three balefire bombs, maybe more. They wanted to make sure even if somepony survived the explosions by some miracle, the ridiculous amount of radiation would kill anything instantly.”
 
“But you have a plan for that right? I mean you’ve been there before so you have to know a way around that.” I remember he told me to be careful to avoid balefire craters, but if there was that much radiation the whole place would kill you right?
 
“Actually there isn’t a way around it. You just have to suck it up and deal with it. That’s why I always bring lots of Rad-X and RadAway. Luckily your friend Airem had a lot of the stuff I bought with the caps you let us keep.”
 
I nickered but smiled despite myself. “You’re still mad about that?”
 
“Yes I’m mad about that! That money was ours fair and square and you gave it all to a bunch of strangers.” He put on his usual pouty face but I wasn’t buying it.
 
“Those ponies went through who knows what at the hooves of those raiders, and we both agreed that they deserved it. Besides it’s not like we gave them everything, you can still go back and open all the wall boxes, and all the gems are still there too!”
 
“Yeah but still… that was a lot of caps, we could have bought our way into Tenpony Tower with that much.”
 
“Tenpony Tower? No thank you, the only good thing I’ve known to come out of that place is DJ-Pon3’s broadcast, and we don’t even get it all the way out here anyways.”
 
“Hey that’s not true, my parents traded with a few nice ponies there, and the guards are pretty nice so long as you follow the rules. Heads up by the way…” He pointed ahead of us as we crested another small hill, and I finally got my first look at Las Pegasus.
 
It was huge! I’d never been in any city other than Desert Springs, but that didn’t even compare to Las Pegasus. Massive buildings reached for the sky; wide, paved streets ran in and out of the city; there were still some huge glowing neon lights hanging from some of the buildings. But what really caught my attention were the two massive craters within the city. They glowed a sickly green, and each one looked bigger than Desert Springs. After asking about them, Finder told me being in one those things would kill you in less than half an hour, and that there was at least one more on the far side of the city.
 
I could also see the small military camp Finder talked about. It was directly in front of us and just on the outside of town. He navigated us perfectly so that it would provide us cover as we made our way closer to the city proper. After a bit of planning Finder decided he would take point and I would follow right behind. I would fly so I wouldn’t set off any traps or make as much noise.
 
We quickly made our way to the military base without any trouble, and Finder led me inside the perimeter fence through a hole and into the first small building. It appeared to be some kind of barracks, with old beds and personal belongings scattered across the only room. We rested for a moment before Finder slinked back outside with me close in tow. I wanted to scavenge everything I could find, but I was too scared of falling behind to leave Finder’s tail.
 
We passed several more buildings and ruined tents before he led me into a large concrete structure with steel doors. Luckily the doors were already wide open, they were so rusty I was sure you could hear those doors being opened on the other side of Las Pegasus. Inside wasn’t much darker than it was outside, which didn’t really matter since I couldn’t see anything either way. I could barely see Finder and I certainly couldn’t hear him, following him was going to start getting really tricky. I barely saw him move into the next room, and I rushed to follow him. By the time I entered the next room he had already disappeared in the darkness. Not good.
 
"Finder?” I whispered as quietly as I could, but it still sounded deafening in the eerie silence.
 
“Finder?”
 
I heard a loud screeching noise before being tackled head on to the ground. I couldn’t see a thing but whatever it was felt big and leathery. It wrestled with me until I finally was able to push it off, rising to my hooves for whatever good it did me. It charged me again but from behind this time, pinning me under its superior weight. I could feel something sharp trying to press its way through my wingblades’ harness, and I was finally able to roll onto my back and face whatever it was that was attacking me.
 
I couldn’t see much, but the black monster on top of me was more than I wanted to see, and with a quick swipe of my right wing I slashed its neck with my wingblades leaving a gaping wound. The creature shrieked and bit at me again, barely missing my head as I squirmed on the floor underneath it. I slashed with my wing again, this time across its face and over one of its eyes.
 
That seemed to make it angry, and it began clawing at my stomach as it shrieked and bit for my throat again. This time I wasn’t so lucky… I felt its fangs sink deep into my neck as I slashed at one of the monster’s wings. The bite on my neck hurt but didn’t seem too bad. It drew its head back with a scream before going to bite my neck again. Not this time, I brought my left wing between me and the monster so all it got was a mouth full of wingblade. I rolled to my left and used the leverage to drag the scaled blade out of its jaws and across its face.
 
It screamed a final time before collapsing on me, its blood soaking into my coat and matting my fur down. I was struggling to shove it off of me when I heard another shrill screech from the darkness. “Oh come on!” I finally got the giant bat-thing off of me and rolled to my hooves, waiting for the impact that was sure to come soon. Still waiting…
 
…
 
Maybe it was too scared to- wham! I was hurled tail-over-head as I rolled across the floor, my back hitting the wall and my head slamming into something hard. I fought to regain my senses as another one of the monsters landed on my chest. I tried pushing it off of me with my hooves, but this one was even bigger than the first! And with my wings pinned underneath me this time, I stood little chance. The struggle was brief and I soon felt its fangs sink deep into my side… then I didn’t feel anything at all.
 
 

^                          ^                          ^

 
 
“Why didn’t you save us? Why didn’t you stop them?”
 
“Why did you kill us? It hurt so much! Why did you kill us you monster?!”
 
 

^                          ^                          ^

 
 
 
Thump.
 
I could feel the shallow beating of my heart, and my ears were ringing, but I was scared to open my eyes. My whole body felt numb but I was slowly gaining some feeling in my limbs.
 
Thump.
 
My blood felt like ice and my throat was as dry as the desert outside. I let out a groan which divulged into a painful coughing fit. As my hearing slowly started to come back I could hear voices faintly talking.
 
Thump.
 
Oh for Celestia’s sake what is that noise? I cracked my eyes open and they were immediately met by a blinding amber light. After they adjusted I made it out to be a (rather dim actually…) lantern lighting up the large room. It was clearly some kind of cafeteria, badly damages tables lining up in rows and a kitchen on the far side of the room. The voices continued talking somewhere nearby.
 
Thump.
 
I managed to turn my head to the right, and what I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. A hellhound was sitting cross-legged about a foot away from my head and another was leaning against a far wall. The noise was apparently coming from my leg as he rhythmically picked it up and let it drop to the floor, somehow managing not to cut me with his claws. I let out a quiet whimper as I tried to move away from the pair. It didn’t work, but it didn’t go unnoticed either.
 
“Looks like the pony is waking up.” The one on the far side of the room said as he lit a cigarette. The closer one grunted and shifted to face me.
 
“Told you she would, ponies never give up even when they should. Why are you here pony? Dogs don’t come to your home, why do you come to dog’s home?”
 
I tried to sit up but my limbs just wouldn’t listen. Opening my mouth proved to be far more painful due to my dry throat and mouth. “Water… please…”
 
The closer dog held out a jug of water for me, and rolled his eyes as I tried and failed to reach for it. He pressed it to my lips and helped me drink much more gently than I would have expected considering their violent reputation. He seemed almost happy to see me, whereas his friend looked at me like I was nothing more than an inconvenience.
 
“Ponies are so weak, cannot even fight bats.”
 
The ‘nice’ dog set the jug of water on the ground next to me with a scowl. “Brute was killed when bats surprise him, and I remember his strength.” Hellhounds having trouble with Bloodwings? Then again that makes sense, all that size doesn’t help when it probably only takes one bite to kill. “So tell me pony, why you come to dog’s home?”
 
My voice was still scratchy, but at least it hurt a lot less to talk now. “I’m… looking for somepony…”
 
“Bats find you first, lucky we always come when we hear them cry. But unless you are looking for dog, then I think you are lost. There are no ponies here, only dogs and bats unless you go into the tunnels.”
 
I wanted to ask him what he meant about the tunnels, but I think it would be best if I just answered his question before I made the giant with super sharp claws angry. “Finder? I know you’re in here… Please… tell them…”
 
The dogs looked at me oddly before their ears perked toward the far side of the room. Finder crawled out of a wall cabinet under the kitchen sink, his face painted with nervous apprehension. If only I could have laughed when I saw the faces of the two hellhounds when he crawled out…
 
“Come here pony we won’t hurt you, especially since you have no gun. Come, tell me why I can’t smell you.” Said the farthest dog with a wry grin.
 
Finder still looked worried, but when we made eye contact he rushed over and fussed over the many scratches and bite marks. “Damnit I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of you this is my fault. The bloodwings never used to come out this far sorry.
 
“Dogs are pushing them out of the city, we kill them as fast as we can. Tired of them hurting the young ones, and the elders reward us for each one we bring back.” The closer dog held out a paw to Finder with what I assumed was supposed to be a friendly smile. Anything with that many sharp teeth should warn ponies before they smile… “Breaker, Rock Breaker.”
 
Finder looked like he was shaking head to hoof, but he reached out and shook the hellhound’s outstretched paw. “Finder, and she’s my friend Updraft.”
 
“And this is my brother Trueshot. So little pony, I too would like to know why I cannot smell you.”
 
“Well…” Finder gestured to a small necklace he was wearing. It was a mall white rock with some kind of inscription in it. “This is a talisman made by the zebras. It gets rid of any smell somepony- I mean someone may have. I guess they used it with those stealth cloaks to sneak into places.”
 
“And you found this thing… where?” I rasped as I finally built up the strength to sit up. I felt way too light headed to do anything more though.
 
“Well actually I have three.” He began as he started strolling around the room, gathering up the belongings I lost during my fight with the bloodwings. “A long time ago me and my parents sneaked into an old zebra camp outside of Equestria. Turns out they were using it to send spies in and out of the country, and they had all kinds of cool stuff there! Of course you had to get past the robotic tanks, and the talisman traps, the horrible monsters in the jungle around it… good times.”
 
Rock Breaker coughed into his paw to catch our attention. “Yes that is nice, now why are you in dog’s home?”
 
Finder smiled as he found Hurricane’s journal and gently placed the dusty old tome back in my saddlebag. “Well about two years ago, I got separated from my parents when a group of slavers caught up to us near the Everfree Forest. We had to run into the forest to get away from them and I got attacked by killing joke. When I woke up they were gone, and I was in a small shed near Ponyville. After I told my friend Updraft about it, we decided to go looking for them.”
 
Rock Breaker sat patiently as he listened to Finder’s story, seemingly interested in how different life is for ponies. Trueshot however began tapping his foot and starting growing restless. “We always used to come here whenever things were bad. No pony ever followed us, so as long as we avoided you guys it was just about the safest place in the wasteland. Well I guess not all hellhounds are mean, but better safe than dead right? Anyways we came here to look at some of our old hiding places to see if they’ve been here recently. I promise it wasn’t to cause you any trouble or steal anything.”
 
Breaker looked at him with a bemused grin. “I never said anything about stealing, why you bring it up?” After laughing as Finder flustered and stammered, he stood up and pat him on the shoulder, his massive size dwarfing us. “Do not worry about it, this city belonged to ponies far before it was dog’s home. Besides my family are the only dogs that sell things to ponies, so there is plenty to share with guests.”
 
He stretched his toned muscles as he stood to his full height, which was an absolutely horrifying sight. I never wanted to fight anything that big, with that many ways to kill me with horrible dismemberment. He turned to me and nodded to the door. “We need to go: the sun is coming up and we have meeting with father. You should stay here until you can move better. Night is smart, most dogs are asleep or tired. If you go during the day, do it when it is the hottest: most dogs like to dig and stay out of sun.”
 
With a curt nod he walked slowly through the door, having to duck and sidestep through it in order to fit. His smaller brother had much less trouble, but he turned back and looked me straight in the eye. “I do not like you. You are a trouble maker, you try and change things. Well we are happy the way things are, and if you cause any trouble remember I am not as kind as my brother. Or as forgiving.” And with that he hurried away, his tail disappearing around the corner.
 
I blinked once and turned to Finder as he sat next to me, but he could only shrug. After a few moments a sly grin spread across my lips. Without warning a wrapped Finder in a tight, surprise hug. “Gah! Get off!”
 
“Nah, you’re too cuddly.”
 

 


^                          ^                          ^

 
I sat alone in the cafeteria, my eyes roaming over the empty, dusty room. After giving me one of his talisman necklaces, Finder came and left periodically bringing things he scavenged from the nearby buildings. Bullets mostly, but there were some good scraps of clothing and even a knife! I had been practicing my magic ever since I regained feeling. It was getting much easier to create flames on my wingtips, and one time I even covered my whole wing in fire! One day I may even be able to use it as casually as the old Cirran pegasi: that would be awesome.
 
Finder slinked in carrying a large shotgun in his mouth. Putting it on one of the tables, he started taking it completely apart. Curious, I walked over and sat next to him. “What are you doing that for?”
 
“Well it really isn’t in very good shape so it wouldn’t sell for very much. But some of the parts are pretty good, so I’m just going to take the good parts with me so I don’t have to carry the whole thing. Back at the mine I have piles of gun parts laying around, so next time I’m there I can try and put something together that will sell for way more than all the crappy guns I took apart. It’s something my mom taught me.”
 
I placed my hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll find them, I promise.” He looked up from the table with sad, hopeless eyes. He gave up on finding them a long time ago, didn’t he?
 
“I don’t believe you, but thanks anyways…” After a few moments he stood up and walked to the door. “I need to be alone for a minute… Please stay here.”
 
I waited for a minute and stared at the door before sighing and turning back to the table. I just couldn’t understand what he was going through. I never really had any parents, and barely any friends either. But he did, and he lost that. He lost the ones that were always there for him, the ones that taught him everything he knows. Maybe there was a silver lining in not having much to lose.
 
I finished taking apart the shotgun with a lot more trouble than Finder was having. Dumb guns, blades are so much easier to work with… Afterwards I wanted to go looking for Finder but remembering what he said I went back to practicing my magic. I spent hours going between reading and practicing, finally taking a break to look outside. It was almost dark already and still no sign of Finder. That’s never a good thing.
 
Okay so now I have two choices. I can either do the smart thing and stay here until Finder comes back, like a sensible pony would do. Or, I can go wandering aimlessly through one of the wasteland’s most dangerous playgrounds looking for Finder. After gathering my things I made the obvious choice and stepped outside into the quickly fading daylight.
 
Let’s see… if I was a sad cat-pony looking for someplace quiet, where would I go? Well I remember Miss Lapps had a cat when I was a filly, and whenever things got noisy at town hall she would always crawl under my bed in one of the back rooms. So, someplace dark, quiet, and reclusive… I could find that. Flying to the top of the two-story cafeteria building (Just don’t look down, just don’t look down!) I got my first good look at the immediate surroundings.
 
I had a few more buildings to cross before I would be out of the camp, then after crossing a big, paved road I would be in the city proper. The closer buildings were smaller businesses it looked like, but the towering Skyscrapers were just a hop, skip, and a jump away. To my left were a few industrial buildings, one of them had massive smokestacks jutting into the sky. Factories probably, and they were separated from the city by a large perimeter fence and on the same side of the street as this military camp.
 
Reclusive? Yes. Quiet? Definitely. Dark? Probably. Seems like a good place to start, especially since I really didn’t want to go wandering around through those massive buildings where I’d get lost pretty quick. I looked through my bags and pulled out one of the little packages labeled Rad-X. Finder said the radiation wasn’t a problem until you crossed the big street that circles the city, but I wanted to be safe. I popped the small pill into my mouth. Tasted like chalk… bleh.
Taking a deep breath, I spread my wings wide. The fence around the camp was about two hundred feet away, and it was three times the distance to the fence surrounding the factories. I backed up to get a running start, but I could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from the factory. Magical energy weapons, probably hellhounds then. I looked down at the necklace around my neck and said a silent prayer to Celestia before jumping from the roof wings spread wide.
 
Unlike when I flew from the roof of the Black 9, this time I was trying to pace myself and see how far I could get. Immediately I was hit with that feeling of falling, and I could feel the fear gripping at the corner of my mind. But I didn’t close my eyes, I kept my focus on the factory fence, intending to land just outside and behind the nearest building. I almost made it before a beam of light arced past me, almost singing my mane as it flew past my head.
 
The shot broke my concentration and sent me spiraling out of the air, barely spreading my wings in time before landing and preventing a rather nasty fall. Okay I still crashed, but I managed to catch myself and keep it from being too bad… Crash landing, yeah we’ll call it that.
 
I never even saw where the shot came from! And worse still there was almost nothing to hide behind out here. I laid down next to the remains of a burnt wagon, hoping my dark coat would help me blend in. More shots arced overhead seemingly at nothing, and after a few moments I decided they were never even shooting at me. Okay, so there were definitely bad guys at the factories, but what were they shooting at? I hope it was just more bloodwings, but worry took hold and I couldn’t get it out of my head that they somehow might have found my friend.
 
Staying low to the ground this time, I sprinted across the opening and flew over the fence, landing behind the largest building in the compound. There were a lot of shouts and growls coming from inside as well as more shots being fired, occasionally one or two arcing through the second story windows.
 
 A metal door marked ‘Exit’ was set into the wall near me, the door itself long ago torn from the wall and was laying on the ground outside. I crept next to the door and peaked my head around the corner to get a look inside the towering structure. The door led into a massive factory floor, conveyor belts running across the room with parts and pieces of guns on them. Several sets of stairs led to a second floor balcony that ran all around the room with several offices and hallways branching out to the rest of the building. The only other entrance I could see to this floor was a set of two massive bay-doors on the opposite wall from me, one of which had been left a crumpled, broken mess on the floor.
 
And then I saw them; I thought, hoped that it was only one hellhound in here. But as I looked around the massive room I could see seven, four of which were waving around MEW’s. I could see Rock Breaker and Trueshot among them, but they seemed more interested in looting the better looking gun parts from the conveyor belts and floor.
 
 But what were they shooting at? I could see several scrapped robots scattered around the room, but I doubted they would give so many hellhounds any trouble. Continuing to watch, I finally caught a glimpse of what they were chasing throughout the large building. It was Finder!
 
Oh ha-ha I get it, the dogs were trying to catch a cat… Well I wasn’t going to just stand here until one of them got a lucky shot. Making sure my saddlebags were tied up tight and my wingblades firmly secured, I stepped into the doorway and took to the air. Flying across the room, I stopped in front of the open bay door at the far side.
 
“Hey dogs! Bet you can’t catch the pretty birdy!” I stuck my tongue out at them before laughing and flying outside, beams of light flying out after me. I could hear several frustrated growls as most of the dogs chased me outside. I counted four, so that only left one inside that actually cared about catching Finder. Several more beams lanced past me, and I couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity. “Oh come on! You couldn’t hit the broadside of a manticore with that kind of aim!” I ducked between several low hanging wires, barely avoiding them and trying to maintain as much speed as I could.
 
They were fast, almost as fast on the ground as I was in the air. But as long as I kept my height advantage I should be fine…. I just had to say that didn’t I? As I flew between two of the industrial buildings a Hellhound jumped out of one of the windows, lunging at me with his massive claws. Fortunately he misjudged my speed so I flew harmlessly past him as he swiped at the air behind me. He braced himself as he flew into a window in the opposite building, breaking through it and landing unharmed other than his pride.
 
Okay no more flying between large buildings if avoidable. More shots flew around me, one of them getting close enough to singe my tail as it flapped in the wind behind me. Not cool! I needed to lose them, and fast. Circling around the building on my left I started back towards the factory. I noticed something running on the ground below me. At first I thought it was another hellhound, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was my friend.
 
“Go into the city! Big red building with a neon sign, can’t miss it! Go to the fourth floor and no matter what don’t go down!” With that he disappeared around a corner deeper into the industrial buildings. Well I didn’t plan on going down anyways but thanks for the advice I guess. More shots rang out around me, two coming close to my head this time. They were getting better…
 
I flew over the fence and across the street, hoping the sturdy fence would at least slow them down a little. Nope, the lead hellhound jumped into it and knocked down like a pile of leaves, and the rest followed through howling. I flew into the city proper, flying low and zipping between the street lights trying to make myself a harder target. Big red building, neon sign. Worst directions ever! I tried to go faster to put a more comfortable distance between me and the aggravated hellhounds, but I was already panting hard and could feel my wings were starting to give out.
 
I was about to dive for the nearest storefront when I saw it. Giant red hotel reaching for the sky with a massive neon yellow and pink sign proclaiming ‘Princess’ Paradise’ on the front. Thank you Celestia! Climbing as high in the air as I could I reached the fourth floor and flew through one of the many broken windows. I collapsed to the floor of the surprisingly bright room, the lights still humming with life in the ceiling. I wanted to take a moment to rest, but I could hear movement just outside the door. Several doors were opened and closed until finally the door to the room I was in swung open and Finder looked at me with relief.
 
“Come on we have to hurry!” He rushed back outside and I had to push my weary limbs to follow. Outside was a long hallway that stretched to my right and left, each side covered in similar doors. I followed Finder to the right until we reached the end of the hallway. Taking a left, we were met with another long hallway that was an exact copy of the one we left. Running about halfway down it we turned and entered a room on the right side, the door had a sign that read ‘Casino Floor Manager’.
 
The room was clearly well furnished in its prime, several nice wooden chairs sat around a matching table and long, rotted drapes hung in front of the windows. A small kitchen was set into the wall to our left, a bedroom to our right. Finder closed the door behind us quietly before walking into the bedroom, beckoning me to follow. Despite the bed smelling and looking terrible, I really wanted to collapse onto it and rest my wings and lungs. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance as Finder waved me over to one of the walls. “Help me pull this grate off.”
 
There was a large air vent set into the wall, just big enough for an average sized pony to crawl through. With a little effort we managed to pry it from the wall and Finder led the way inside. I pulled the vent back over the hole and followed Finder through the air duct, eventually reaching a small room. It had a single light hanging from the ceiling, a desk with an old terminal, and a dusty but relatively nice bed. On the floor there were two more beds made from blankets as well as some assorted trinkets and loot organized around the edges of the room.
 
“What is this place?” I asked as I finally got the opportunity to lay down and rest. The concrete floor was hard and cold but I didn’t mind too much.
 
“I guess the ponies who used to live here had problems with visitors, so some of the hotel rooms have these hidden rooms. You can take the bed if you want, my parents haven’t been here in a long time anyways.” He was unpacking some things from his saddlebags and organizing them with the rest of the loot on the floor. “That was amazing by the way!”
 
I looked up at him with weary eyes. “What was?”
 
He turned to me and blinked. “Updraft you flew! Like, really flew!”
 
Oh.
 

 


^                          ^                          ^

 
Level Up!
 
Comprehensive Pony: Smart ponies read. Smart ponies read a lot. You've learned to study like few in the wasteland have, giving you an advantage over your rivals. +1 additional skill point whenever you read a skill book.
 
Character Updates!
 
Name: Rock Breaker
Gender: Male
Race: Hellhound
Age: mid-twenties
Appearance: Dusty gray fur, blue eyes. His right ear has a hole in it from a bullet
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: Far larger than a normal hellhound, he towers over the rest of his pack.
Occupation: Scavenger, he gathers things dogs don’t need and trades them to ponies for things they can’t find in Las Pegasus.
Weapons of Choice:  Claws and teeth, he doesn’t trust any conventional weapons to match the damage he can inflict with his sheer strength.
Skillset: He can dig fast, much faster than an ordinary hellhound. He’s also massive, giving him many physical advantages. Not very smart though, has almost no knowledge of arcano devices or guns.
 
Name: Trueshot
Gender: Male
Race: Hellhound
Age: about 30
Appearance: Dusty tan fur, green eyes.
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: A little smaller than an average Hellhound
Occupation: Scavenger and hunter, he finds loot with Rock Breaker and tells him what is worth taking or not. He also hunts down the bloodwing population of Las Pegasus, getting tribute from the pack’s leaders for every bloodwing he kills.
Weapons of Choice: Rifles mostly, he keeps a trusty Magical Energy Rifle slung over his shoulder at all times.
Skillset: Excellent marksmen, he is renowned among his pack for being able to take out bloodwings mid-air with a single shot every time. Though he isn’t very good at using smaller weapons, and his close quarter’s combat skill leaves much to be desired.

 
 


> Chapter 7 - Sand Scuffle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I stood alone in the green field. The ground was covered in some kind of grass that felt soft beneath my hooves. It didn’t take me long to decide it seemed like a lovely place to lay down and rest. Looking up I saw the most beautiful blue sky imaginable mottled with a few fluffy white clouds. It was completely silent, but rather than feeling lonely I felt at peace. Then all of that changed.
 
 It started with the vibrant blue sky so full of warmth. It turned dark and red, before being completely overtaken by black, hateful clouds. The soft ground beneath me turned brown and blackened as the soothing plants died beneath me, leaving charred dirt beneath. The world around me remained silent but it was chilling and frightening.
 
 Then in the distance arose… something. It was huge, never really staying in one shape.  It wasn’t really black, as if the light itself was scared to even approach the monster. It grew and grew as it approached me, the ground shaking with every step it took. I wanted to run, I wanted to get as far away as I could. But all I could do was shake with fear, terrified of the blackness the monster brought with it. It reached out for me ever so slowly with massive clawed hands, leaving nothing but darkness in their wake.
 
 I still couldn’t run, only stare at death itself as I shook on the ground. I could feel myself being drawn towards the clawed hands as they started to close around me, as if some dark forces were pulling me away. Fear kept me in place as I was wrapped in darkness, feeling cold and alone. Then I felt something inside of me, a warmth against the freezing darkness. I opened my eyes to see the monster far away now, lumbering away and back into the distance where it came from in terrifying silence. In front of me was a small floating light, its presence warm and inviting.
 
 I couldn’t explain why but I felt stronger by just being near it, as if the light itself gave me the strength to overcome any challenge. Slowly it bobbed through the air in the direction of the retreating darkness, and I decided to follow so I wouldn’t be alone again. Shortly we came upon the monster again, continually changing size and shape but remaining darker than any night. It was reaching its clawed hands towards another small floating light, but this light was different.
 
 It seemed weaker than the first, unable to fight off the approaching darkness. I watched the first light to see if it would help, but it merely bobbed in the air next to me, as if beckoning for me to save the second light. I folded my ears back and took a shake step forward…
 

^                ^                ^ 

 
 “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
 
 “Of course not all of my ideas are terrible, I figured you would have learned that by now.”
 
 Finder and I decided it would be best to travel by day after the previous incidents.  So taking Rock Breaker’s advice we were picking our way through a destroyed shopping district in the heat of the day.  We already visited Finder’s second hideout, but the whole building was nothing but rubble so after some brief digging we gave up on it.
 
 Currently we were presented with a bit of a problem: our last destination was barely a few hundred feet away from the partly collapsed grocery store we were in.  However we were going to have to run a lot of that across a large highway with no cover.
 
 We already had four close encounters with hellhounds getting this far, and a run like that would likely get us killed.  But the alternative was to take a short trip through the subway which would leave us only a few blocks away from our next hideout on the correct side of the street.  Which for some reason Finder really didn’t want to do.
 
 “So why can’t we take the subway again? I mean I’m a little scared of the dark after the other night but that’s better than drawing the attention of every hellhound in town again.” I pouted as I flapped my sore wings.
 
 “There’s a reason not even the hellhounds go down there. This was Las Pegasus, it was one of the crime capitals of Equestria back during the war. Even with that military camp they didn’t have nearly enough soldiers to keep the peace around here, so the mayor had a stupid idea. He made a contract with the Robronco Corperation, and bought thousands of automated sentries. Oh they kept the peace alright, nopony was going to mess with that much firepower that didn’t care about killing ponies.”
 
 “But when the bombs fell, well everypony retreated to the tunnel systems to take shelter. Thanks to some pretty smart ponies almost the whole tunnel system stayed intact even though this place got hit with three balefire bombs. Unfortunately it couldn’t protect them from the radiation, so there’s massive hordes of ghouls roaming around down there. And unfortunately for us, most of the sentries were called down there too, and they don’t recognize the ghouls as threats. Also-”
 
 “Okay okay, I get it. There’s hordes of zombie ponies and lots of lazery death down there, so don’t go down right?” He nodded as he passed me a RadAway before sipping one down himself. I don’t know what oranges taste like, but if they tasted anything like this stuff than they must have been pretty gross.
 
 Finder scanned the nearby buildings and streets before ducking back behind our collapsed wall. “Ready to run?”
 
 I tightened the straps of my saddlebags and my wingblades. “No, but we might as well get this over with.” After a moment I added, “Just don’t look right?”
 
 He turned back to the road with a bitter smile. “Yeah, just don’t look right.” We sprinted for all we were worth, the wave of heat coming up from the asphalt robbing our breaths. This road was huge! Why did ponies ever need a road this big?! Every moment I expected beams of energy to start lancing overhead or a growl of rage to erupt somewhere around us. But nothing ever came, and we collapsed into the alleyway we ran to.
 
 After catching our breaths we slowly made our way through the narrow passage, looking for any traps or signs of trouble. Finally after walking about two blocks Finder pointed a hoof at a cellar door set near the back of an old restaurant. “That’s the third hideout, but it looks like somepony else got here first.” After searching our surroundings he slowly made his way to the door while I waited behind an old dumpster.
 
 Looking at the door closely I could see what he meant. It was wire trapped, set that if you opened the door several landmines would be set off. But who would booby trap the outside of the door if they wanted to hide inside? Finder made short work of the simple trap, defusing the mines and putting them in one of his bags.
 
 “Whoever the hellhounds were trying to trap is probably still in there, so we should be very careful when we open this door.” Oh, well that made since why the trap was on the outside… duh. Standing on both sides of it, we threw the door open and waited outside. And waited, and waited… nothing. Finally I got too bored to wait any more.
 
 I stuck my head through the doorway but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. “If anypony is in there don’t shoot we’re friendly!” Finder smacked his forehead with a hoof but honestly what else was I supposed to say? I slowly made my way down the creaky wooden stairs, my eyes beginning to adjust to the dark room. When I reached the bottom I could finally start to take in my surroundings.
 
 The walls were lined with wooden barrels, and most of the small room had shelves full of old glass bottles. Most of the bottles had broken and shattered on the floor, but a few were still intact. In one corner sat a dusty wooden table and chair. Then I saw him, a griffon curled up in the opposite corner holding a massive shotgun. He looked dead, and was covered in blood.
 
 “Hello?” No answer.
 
 Finder descended the stairs behind me and stopped on the last step. “Umm… Is he dead?”
 
 “I don’t think so, it looks like he’s breathing.” I slowly walked over to him, muscles tensed to jump in case he decided to put that gun of his to use. After reaching him I could tell he was still shallowly breathing, but he was definitely unconscious. “Help me move him to that table, he’s hurt pretty badly.”
 
 Setting his shotgun aside we gently lifted him and set him on the table, his arms and legs hanging off the sides and the table creaking under his weight. It took some work but we were finally able to strip the ragged, leather barding off of him, revealing his heavily bloodied body beneath.
 
 He was covered in deep cuts and bruises, and I counted at least three bullet wounds. I didn’t even know where to start to treat that many wounds, but I figured they all needed cleaning. “Finder can you give me your water? I won’t have enough to clean him off.”
 
 “You really think we can save him? That’s a lot of blood…”
 
 “It doesn’t matter! We have to help him! We have to try! I… I have to save him…” I trailed off as tears formed in my eyes. Reaching into my bags I pulled out my canteen and a strip of cloth. I started to clean the griffon’s body, but I quickly ran out of water trying to wash away such a substantial amount of blood.
 
 Finder passed me his two canteens before setting his meagre amount of medical supplies on the chair. “I wish Airem would have sold me some of his healing potions, I only have one.”
 
 “I have one too so he should be fine.” My voice was barely a whisper as I continued my work. “I have to save him. I can’t let him die.”
 
 After cleaning his wounds and checking to make sure none of the bullets were still in him, I carefully poured my healing potion over his wounds. Thankfully one thing we had plenty of was healing bandages, and soon we had him trussed up neck to tail looking like a mummy. Thanks to Bora I was even able to properly bandage his wings.
 
 Finder carefully poured his potion down the griffon’s mouth and made sure it ‘went down the right pipe’ as he called it. He was still breathing shallowly, but at least we stopped the bleeding and treated his wounds as best as we could. All we can do now is wait to see if he wakes up.
 
 There really wasn’t much we could do since it was already getting dark outside, so Finder settled for searching the room to find any supplies his family might have left here the last time. He came back with a lantern, and I felt a rush of pride as I succeeded in lighting it on the first try. However I decided it was best if I didn’t practice my magic any further in a cellar filled with wine.
                                                                                          
 After doing some maintenance on my wingblades I decided to do a rough inventory check. I still had a few bandages, some gun parts I was carrying for Finder, a now empty canteen along with a few more servings of food. I had the extra knife that Finder brought me in the military camp, and I still had that glass ball I picked up at the mining town. The best part was that I still had that bottle of Sparkle Cola~ I scavenged from before! It wasn’t much, but that suited me just fine.
 
 As far as caps went, well I was just about broke. Don’t get me wrong I had more than I ever made while working guard duty at Desert Springs, but according to Finder one hundred caps was nothing to brag about in the wasteland proper. Currently he was walking around the room ensuring there was absolutely nothing threatening or anything worth scavenging. Apparently it was just something he did everywhere he went.
 
 So why am I going over all of this? Well to put it bluntly, I was bored. I hate waiting, but more than anything I hate being stuck in one place. Must be a pegasus thing. “Hey Finder, since you’re parents aren’t here where do you want to look next?” He finally decided there wasn’t anything here he hadn’t already seen so he sat down on the floor next to me with the griffon’s huge shotgun.
 
 “I don’t know honestly. I mean before we got separated we were having trouble with some slavers out of Appleloosa. I doubt they could have caught my parents, but I guess maybe that’s a good place to look for clues.” He started taking the gun apart with ease, cleaning each part with a rag covered in some kind of oil before setting them aside.
 
 “Appleloosa huh? I heard that’s a pretty nasty place, gonna be hard to get in and out of there without starting a war. Got any plans?” I pulled out the bottle of carroty goodness and popped the cap, putting it with the others.
 
 He looked at me incredulously before going back to his work. “You’re still letting me make the plans? I mean so far my plans just seem to get you hurt.”
 
 I thought that over for a moment as I sipped on my drink. “Yeah I guess that’s true, but hey we’ve made it this far right? And so far no serious injuries so I think you’re doing an excellent job.”
 
 He started putting the gun back together already, he was fast! “Yeah but this last time you almost died Updraft! I almost got you killed and you don’t even have a reason to be here. I mean… I don’t want to lose you, you’re my only friend you know?”
 
 I laid a hoof on his shoulder and passed him my Sparkle Cola~, of which he hesitantly shared a drink. “Hey what did I tell you about that inferiority complex of yours? Look if anything your plans have gone way better than mine. I mean I was away from home for barely a day and I… I killed three ponies. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to, and that scares me more than anything. I’d rather die than ever do something like that again. At least with your plans I know we won’t end up hurting anypony.”
 
 He gave a bitter smile as he passed my soda back to me. “Not true, I convinced you to kill that raider remember?”
 
 I bopped him on the head before taking the last sip of my drink. “You didn’t convince me to do anything. And besides after what they did to those kids…  Those monsters weren’t ponies.”
 
 We sat in silence after that, the mood having been killed. Finder finished cleaning the griffon’s gun and had started using strips of leather to patch up some of the holes. I took to staring at the small light dancing in the lantern until a quiet knock at the door nearly made me jump out of my fur. I turned to see Finder having already disappeared further into the room, probably somewhere no one would ever find him unless he wanted to be found.
 
*Thump*
 
 A quiet voice whispered through the door. “Ponies I know you are in there, it Rock Breaker. I am coming in do not shoot.” With more gentleness than I would have imagined an eight foot tall death machine could muster he eased the cellar door open and ducked inside. I had to stifle a laugh behind my hoof as he struggled to fit through the small opening and into the room.
 
 “You laugh now but who will laugh when you need to reach something tall?” I tilted my head and flapped my wings. “Fine. But do not come crying to me when you need to open a door.” He laughed and patted my head with that unusual gentleness. “Your friend is still hiding yes? He is a fast one for sure.” He pulled the cellar door closed, once again leaving us in darkness except for the soft amber light of the lantern.
 
 “Sorry after yesterday I don’t think he’ll ever be comfortable around dogs anymore.” I whispered before moving aside to let Rock Breaker get more comfortable. He looked at our tiny lantern with a grin before pulling out his own, much brighter lantern. Lighting a match on the stone floor he lit his lantern and set it beside mine. With the brighter light he almost jumped at the sight of the bandaged griffon in the corner of the room.
 
 “I see you made a new friend?” He snorted distastefully as he looked at the griffon and his barding.
 
 “Yeah we found him here. He was in really bad shape, we had to use our last medical supplies to save him. I guess you don’t much care for griffons?” I was just starting to warm up to the big guy, I really didn’t want something like petty racism to come between us.
 
 But if anything he looked almost offended by my question. “I do not hate them, but I do not like the way they do things. Ponies always get involved, think they need to change everything. Dogs are stubborn, sometimes stupid. Zebras never trust anyone but each other, and they really do not like dogs. But griffons act without thinking, they rely on emotions to make decisions. I do not like that.”
 
 I hadn’t really met any griffons so I couldn’t really argue against that. But where had Rock Breaker met zebras? And I wanted to get to know more about hellhounds and why they always fight with ponies. “Where have you met zebras before? I mean I’ve always heard about them but I’ve never met any.”
 
 He unslung a big metal canister from his back and I my eyes lit up as I graciously accepted the offered water. I began filling up our canteens as he thought about my question.
 
 “Long time ago. West side of town where there was an old factory, a bunch of zebras moved in to get away from the ponies. Dogs were nicer then because we had more visitors, so zebras felt safe. They were always nice to me but it was because they were scared to make my father angry I think. One day they just left, said they were going to Hoofington to be with more zebras.”
 
 So the hellhounds here used to be nice to visitors? But what changed that? If they used to be so nice they could live alongside ponies and zebras, what made them start killing everything that came close enough? “Hey Rock Breaker can I ask you a personal question? About your home?”
 
 He quirked an eye curiously. “I suppose you can, but only if you tell me about your home after.”
 
 “Of course, that’s only fair. I was just wondering what made hellhounds- I mean dogs, start attacking everyone that comes here?”
 
 He let out a sigh as he sat cross legged on the floor. I never heard him but somehow I knew Finder had moved so that he could hear better. “When I was just a pup we had a lot of visitors. Ponies, griffons, even a tribe of zebra. We traded things with them in return for things we could not find here. But one day a pony came with a lot of others, and griffons too. He called himself RedEye.”
 
 “He talked with my father, said he wanted to help us. He wanted us to come with him to Fillydelphia to protect him and his work. He said he would pay us whatever we wanted and said he would make a place for us in the ‘new world’. Father could tell he was lying, that he wanted to make us slaves. This did not go well with the other dogs.”

 He stared at the lantern with distant eyes. “Remember what I said about dogs? How we are stubborn, sometimes stupid? Well when other dogs heard that the ponies wanted to take us from our homes, they wanted to fight. Dogs won of course, ponies never can beat us.” He looked at me with pride and a hint of a smile. “But so many dogs died, too many. After that it did not matter what father said, dogs did not want to talk to ponies anymore. That is why my family is the only one that will still trade with ponies when we can.”
 
 I flicked my ears as I intently listened to the sound of something moving outside. Rock raised his head and sniffed a few times. “That is Trueshot. Sorry you will have to tell me about your home another time, I have to go. By the way you can leave whenever you want, other dogs will not bother you. We talked with father, and though they usually do not listen when he asks them to not hurt ponies, me and Trueshot made a deal with the other elders to convince the others.”
 
 Something about all of this bothered me, and I couldn’t help but ask. “Why are you helping us so much? I mean we sneak into your home and give you all this trouble, so why help us? Don’t you want us to do something in return?”
 
 He scratched his chin as he collected the metal canister full of water. After thinking or a moment he shrugged and opened the door. “Not really, I do not think you could help with anything we need anyways. There is an old dog saying. You have to give of yourself, before you are worthy to receive.” With a wave and another sharp smile, he worked his way through the door and closed it behind him.
 
 I turned to Finder for some answers, but he was already too busy looking through his bags to notice. “So what do you think that was all about? I mean I’m grateful for the help and all, but I feel like we’re getting out of this way too easily.” Finder looked up from his bags with a bundle of rope in his mouth.
 
 He mumbled something incoherent before spitting the rope into a hoof. “How should I know? Hey give me a hoof will ya? Let’s set him on the floor.” I had no idea what Finder was doing, but I helped him lift the griffon and we gently set him on the floor. I watched intently with curiosity and fascination as he started making… something out of the table and chair.
 
 He broke the legs off of both and set them aside. I gave him my knife to cut the rope up, and he used it to tie the chair and table together. He then tied the table lags together end to end, making two long poles. Tying those to the table with more rope, he stepped back to admire his hoofwork. It only took me a second to realize he made a makeshift cart, minus the wheels, using the table legs and backrest of the chair to make a harness. The table, along with the parts of the chair tied to it, were just big enough to fit the griffon on.
 
 “Wow. I never would have thought of that.” He grinned sheepishly as he gave me back my knife and collected the remaining rope. “Like how did you even know how to do that? That’s incredible!”
 
 “My dad showed that to me once. We rescued a pony from a bunch of raiders this one time, and we were carrying way too much stuff already to carry him back. So he made this thing, called a sled, to pull him to the closest town.”
 
 Yeah, I was really lucky he found me. Aside from the fact that he saved my life once already, I’ve already learned a ton of helpful things by traveling with him. With a little effort we managed to get the sled and griffon outside of the cellar, and after I got strapped into the decidedly uncomfortable harness (And by straps, I mean more rope with strips of leather so they wouldn’t chafe too badly), we started on our way out of this particular hellhole.
 
 True to his word, Rock Breaker must have worked something out with the rest of the hellhounds. We came across five of them as we walked through town but other than some menacing growls and angry glares they didn’t bother us. Until we got to the edge of town where the factories from yesterday were. We had just turned the last corner to leave town through a small street when three hellhounds stood in our way.
 
 They were all of a darker color, each wearing tanned leather armor with no weapons except for their claws. Which of course was plenty enough to kill us with. I nervously coughed into my hoof and approached them, the sled on my back feeling extremely heavy now that I had the urge to fly away. “Umm excuse me, do you mind if we pass? You see we finished our business here and we’d like to get out of your hair.”
 
 The hellhound in the front laughed as he barred his claws and teeth. “Ha! Ya hear that boys? The little ponies think they can just walk in and out whenever they want, like they own the place or something. Tell you what pony, how about you give me the chicken you’re dragging around and I may feel nice enough to let you two go.”
 
 The other two dogs laughed and one decided to join in the fun. “Or better yet, let’s kill the pony and use his bones to beat the other two to death. Killing two birds with one body!” He rolled on the floor laughing while the other two watched him with dumbfounded expressions.
 
 “You’re messed up in the head, ya know that?” The leader of the group turned back to me with a huge smile. He took a step closer and sniffed at the air. “You smell terrible, but I bet you taste pretty good.” Another step closer. I fumbled with the straps on the harness in a panic, hoping I could at least try to fight them off. Finder was frozen in terror as he tracked another of the hellhounds starting to circle to our left, trapping us between pointy death and a brick wall.
 
 “Let’s get em’!” The ‘messed up’ hellhound yelled from behind the leader before he started running at us. I managed to get out of the straps finally, but it was too late!
 
 “Whoa whoa! Timeout!” Trueshot yelled from a second story window above us in the building to our right. He jumped down to the street and landed with a quiet thud between us and the other hellhounds. “What are you doing Raze, you know what the elders said.” To my surprise he was wearing some kind of black combat vest covered in pockets. It looked like it was made during the war, but I didn’t know that any of the hellhounds fought in the war.
 
 The other hellhounds skidded to a halt a few feet in front of him, quickly showing varying levels of annoyance at the newcomer. As usual the ‘leader’ of the group was the first to react. “Go back to playing with your toys Trueshot, this doesn’t have to involve you. Unless of course you want me to show you why you’re not the top dog around here again, I haven’t had that much fun since I was a pup.” He had a sickly grin as he stood up on his hindlegs, dwarfing Trueshot and making me and Finder look tiny in comparison.
 
 Raze took several steps forward and roughly shoved Trueshot aside like a tin can, raising a clawed hand as if daring him to do something about it. After a few tense moments Trueshot’s posture slumped and he looked at us with sad eyes. To my horror he whispered “I’m sorry…” as Raze turned back to us with a sharp grin.
 
 The towering hellhound strode up to me and got on all fours, leaning down, down, and down so he could be at eye level with me. His foul breath reeked of meat, and I shrunk back as he adopted a smile. “I’ve never tasted pegasus before. I bet you’d taste good with some salt.”
 
 Trueshot stepped forward and took up a fighting stance. “Sorry Raze, but this time is gonna be different. The elders said these ponies get to leave her safely, and that’s how it’s gonna be. I’m not just gonna stand by and let you have what you want, not again. If you want them, you’re gonna have to kill me first, and I doubt my father will like that.” He said with a smirk.
 
 
 They stared at each other for several moments before Raze snorted and took a step back. "Take your little friends and leave, I'm tired of listening to your mouth." He waved a clawed hand haphazardly close to my face, or no other reason than because he knew he could get away with it. The other two hellhounds wore smug grins as they looked at me and Finder trying to appear as small as possible.
 
 Despite the massive size difference between Trueshot and the other dogs, he didn't hesitate to take a step between us and the other hellhounds. "Raze, are we cross?" He asked as he gestured to the rifle slung over his shoulder. According to Rock Breaker there wasn't a hellhound alive who could match his brother's skill with a rifle, and that was especially scary since it was a Magical Energy Weapon.
 
 "Your gun doesn't scare me, without that you're nothing but a skinny pushover." The lead hellhound, Raze, sneered as he tensed his muscles to fight. But I had enough experience as a guard to see when someone was making nervous decisions.
 
 "Why Raze what an ugly thing to say. Does this mean we aren't friends anymore?" He stretched his arms above his head, and Raze suddenly looked very panicked. I looked behind us to see the massive form of Rock Breaker approaching with a decidedly large frown on his face. "You know... if I thought we weren't friends anymore, I just don't know if I could bear it."
 
 It didn't take him long to scowl and start walking away, his two lackeys in tow. "Only the weak have to protect each other." He sneered as they skulked down the street.
 
 "Oh yeah? Well if I'm weak then what does that make you three eh?" As soon as the group disappeared around the corner Trueshot immediately dropped his mask of confidence and almost collapsed to the ground. "How about you don't do anything else to upset them? They could literally rip me limb from limb if so inclined."
 
 As of that moment I probably became the only pony in the history of the wasteland to give a hellhound a hug. And not just any hug, but a flying-tackle bear hug. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! That was like super scary but you were totally awesome and you totally saved us!”  
 
 His protests were music to my ears. “What are you- hey knock it off! I have a reputation to uphold, I can’t be seen like this!”
 
 He struggled in vain as I held on tightly. “Nuh-uh, not until you hug me back!”
 
 Seeing that I was serious and that Rock Breaker would soon be here, he gave a half-hearted hug in return before shoving me off. “Yeah whatever, just don’t get into any more trouble alright? I might not be there to save you next time.”
 
 I got back to my hooves and with Finder’s help I wriggled my way back into the straps of the makeshift sled. “I still don’t know what we did to make them mad. I mean sure we’re ponies and they’re dogs, but that doesn’t mean we have to hate each other.”
 
 “Do you really believe that? You really believe dogs and ponies can be peaceful?” He looked at me incredulously as Finder checked on the griffon.
 
 “Sure I do! I think everyone can be friends if they’re willing to try.”
 
 He tilted and scratched his head. “You are a very strange pony.”
 
 I smiled and shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
 
 Finally Rock Breaker reached us, and the frown on his face look more intimidating than his toothy smile. “What did Raze do this time?”
 
 Trueshot scratched the back of his head and sighed. “Just causing trouble like always, I took care of it.” They made eye contact and held their stares just enough to make me feel uncomfortable, before Trueshot finally averted his gaze. “Okay fine, you win. But I had to step in, he was gonna hurt them.”
 
 “I know, just next time do not do it alone alright? If you think he is going to cause trouble get me or father. We are much bigger than he is.” Rock Breaker patted Trueshot on the head and adjusted his vest.
 
 Trueshot swatted his brother’s hands away with a smirk. “Don’t tell me what to do, I’m the big brother here, remember?” I watched the whole exchange with a smile plastered on my face. Finally taking notice, Trueshot turned to me with a scowl. “What?”
 
“Oh nothing, I was just thinking.” It must feel good having family to look after you like that…
 
 Rock Breaker coughed into a paw and nudged his brother back the way we came. “Well we have to go, the pack is supposed to be having a meeting and they are waiting on us. If we meet again I do hope to hear about your home, since I told you about mine.”
 
 “Yeah, I would like that. If you ever need anything just let me know!” Of course I knew the odds of us ever seeing each other again were really small, I still felt like I owed them a favor or two.
 
 They both walked back into town as Trueshot shouted over his shoulder. “Will do. And next time we meet hopefully it won’t be because we have to save you from more bloodwings yeah?”
 
 With a few waves and smiles Finder and I walked out of the city a lot more easily than when we entered. While we managed to somehow make it out of this place without getting cut into pony kibble, it certainly wasn’t a place I’d want to vacation to anytime soon. We had to move slowly since I was dragging a cart with no wheels, but after an hour the city disappeared behind the low hills behind us.
 
 Ever since we left the city Finder and I continued on our way in silence. The past two days have just been too surreal for me to talk about just yet, and I imagine Finder felt the same way. Thankfully we still had plenty of water because we were traveling by day now, and it was definitely going to be hot. It also didn’t help that there was a strong wind blowing the dirt and hot air into our faces, but that’s something you just get used to after living in the desert for so long
 
 After several hours of walking I was really tired of dragging this sled, so after seeing some large rocks jutting from the hard ground we decided to take a break. It wasn’t much shade, but thanks to the late-afternoon sun it was plenty for the three of us. After drinking most of what was left of our water we decided it was time for a late lunch. Delicious dog food, yum!
 
 As we sat and enjoyed our food I decided to bring up something that was on my mind. “Hey Finder?”
 
 He looked up from his food and politely swallowed what he was chewing before speaking. “Yeah?”
 
 “I was just wondering where we were heading next. Not a lot out here for us to do unless we go south.”
 
 He tilted his head for a moment and scratched his chin. “Not sure, I mean I planned to go to New Appleloosa next, but we’d have to pass the crater and a whole lot of slaver territory to get there from here. I don’t think it would be a good idea to drag an injured griffon across the desert either.”
 
 We continued eating in silence as we thought that over. I wanted Finder to reunite with his parents as soon as possible, but I also didn’t want to drag the griffon into someplace dangerous. Speaking of which…
 
 I got up and walked over to the sleeping griffon, putting a hoof on his forehead. I could tell he still had a high fever, and his breathing was shallow and ragged. But he was still alive, and as long as he is I’m going to do as much as I can to keep him that way.
 
 “I got it!” When my heart finally stopped pounding and I finally came back down to the ground Finder looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry. Anyways I know where we’re going next. There’s a little town southeast of here called Nowhere, nice ponies. We can leave him there at the clinic before we go to New Appleloosa.”
 
 “Sounds like a plan to me, plus I’d really like a good night’s sleep before we go to the next deathtrap.” And to rest my hooves... I felt like I've done more waking in the past week than the rest of my life combined. My mane and coat were a mess, I was absolutely filthy, and I would just about sell my left leg for a soft bed and warm food. But most of all? I missed home.
 
 I looked to the sky to distract myself before I started getting depressed or something. The Enclave barely seemed to care about keeping the cloud cover intact way out here, evidenced by the fact that the beautiful blue sky was clearly visible on most of the skyline. For a moment I entertained the idea of flying up there, seeing how high I could get. But there was no way I could risk doing something like that and getting hurt, Finder certainly couldn't pull both of us on that sled.
 
 Feeling fairly rested and excited at the prospect that there might be a nice bed waiting for me at the end of this walk, I stood up and stretched my legs. "Well I'm ready whenever you are, might as well get this show on the road.
 
 Finder nodded and started packing up his things. I was just about to strap myself to the sled when I felt the ground rumble slightly. Oh no...
 
 "Look out!" Finder yelled before climbing the large rock with incredible grace. I immediately took to the air and gave my wings several strong flaps to get me as high as possible. The ground where I was just standing exploded upwards, sending dirt and rocks everywhere as a nightmare emerged from below. The hellhound looked around in confusion before snarling and looking up.
 
 I immediately recognized him as the same hellhound from before, Raze. Unlike before he was wearing armor made from bones and leather that covered most of his body. A large skull of some animal sat on his head, serving as a ghostly helmet and completing the horrifying image.
 
"What do to want? We're already far outside your territory and we have nothing to give you!" Oh this was not good, we had nowhere to run and he looked very angry.
 
 He let out a snort before walking over to the griffon. "Stupid ponies, always begging for your lives instead of fighting for them. But you will fight me, that I can promise." He dragged the griffon to the ground and stepped on one of his wings. I swear I heard something snap. "So tell me pony, which of his legs should I cut off first? Or perhaps a wing?" He raised the griffon's other wing and held a claw up to the joint.
 
 "Wait! Okay I'm coming down, just don't hurt him." I descended quickly until my hooves touched dirt, and I took my saddlebags off and set them beside me. "Okay if I have to fight you to make you leave him alone, then fine. But at least give me a moment to get ready."
 
 Raze seemed pleased with himself as he put on a sickly grin. He stood on his hind legs and stepped off of the griffon's wing. I grit my teeth as I watched him twist his heel and dig his class into the wing before stepping off. "Fine you may use your weapons, it won't matter anyways. Your kind has always been too weak to put up a good fight anyways."
 
 Okay I was really getting tired of his arrogant attitude. Keeping him in the corner of my eye I dug through my saddlebags and pulled out my wingblades. I also pulled out my weighted combat knife: I couldn't afford to play around with this guy. I tried my best to ignore his laughing as I strapped my wingblades on and steeled my nerves.
 
 "You’re seriously going to fight with those? Oh wow, you're going to be way more fun than that other bird."
 
So was he the one who hurt the griffon? Ignoring his taunts, I turned to Finder who was still perched on top of the rock and trying to remain as small as possible. "Finder if I lose this I want you to run as fast as you can okay?" It was hard to tell since he was shaking so bad, but he nodded before going back to his best rock impersonation. Taking one last deep breath to calm my nerves I turned to face the hellhound. "Please don't do this, I really don't want to fight you."
 
 He laughed as he pointed down. "Don't worry about that pony, I doubt you'll get the chance anyways."
 
 Wait what? I could feel a slight tremor beneath my hooves. Nonono this is so not cool! I sprung into the air and not a second too soon, rock and dirt exploding in every direction as a hellhound emerged from a hole where I was standing. I didn't have time to protest the circumstances, as soon as got out of reach of the hellhound beneath me lasers started flying through air around me. I couldn't see the shooter but guessing where the shits were coming from I landed a short distance away with the other hellhound blocking his shot.
 
 "Oh come on this is ridiculous! Three, really? I thought you said you wanted to fight me!”
 
 Raze laughed as the other dog dug back under ground. "I do, but it's much more fun watching you try to dance!"
 
 Oh this is bad, like really bad. The other dog seems content to conserve his ammo so long as I'm on the ground but- I rolled the side and barely dodged the swipe of the first dog as he burst through the ground next to me. I recognized him to be the dog from earlier, the 'messed up' one with Raze before. He snarled and lunged at me, but I used my wings to help jump backwards and land just out of his reach.
 
 Using the momentary surprise I jumped over him and slashed along his back with one of my wings, getting a howl of pain in return for my efforts. Not stopping for a moment I immediately went back in the air before he turned and tried to swing at me in a blind rage. More shots rang out and I had to do some fancy flying to avoid being turned into a pile of pegasus dust.
 
 Doing my best to be a hard target I flew in loose patterns trying to spot the shooter. Fortunately it definitely wasn't Trueshot, this dog would probably have trouble hitting me while I was standing still. Even so I need to take him out before he gets a lucky shot. Ducking under a particularly close shot I caught a glimpse of him in the distance laying among a bunch of small rocks. Cheeky bugger.
 
 I have to finish this quickly before I get too tired to fight so I'm only going to have one shot at this. Luckily he wasn't smart enough to plan out his position very well and I intend to take full advantage of it.  Dodging his shots and planning my route, I slowly made my way closer to him. When I felt it was a comfortable distance I flew directly between the poor hellhound and the sun. Silly dog, I don't even use guns and I know better than to look directly at the sun through a sniper scope.
 
 I rocketed into the air and flew to him as fast as I could. It didn't take long for my brain to remind me that I don't like heights but I didn't need to go far and a hard landing was what I planned anyways. The hellhound never even saw me coming and I landed with a kick to the back of his head. Hard! I'm not sure if he's dead or not, but he's definitely unconscious. I could hear the other hellhound coming but I was far too late to dodge him. He tackled me to the ground and pinned me under his weight.
 
 He raised a clawed hand but before he could strike I bucked him in the groin with both hind legs. Okay yes I know it's kind of dirty, but it's not like they're fighting fair either! He buckled to the ground next to me just long enough for me to take to the air and get out of his reach. He growled in anger but there was no way I was going back down there to fight in his terms.
 
 "Pony you are making this harder than it needs to be. New rule: every time you fly higher than we can reach I'm going to cut off a part of the griffon. Sounds like a fun game right?"
 
"Oh for Celesta's sake!"
 
I stared at Raze for a few moments until I was sure he was serious. With a scowl and heavy heart I slowly descended back to the ground. Raze looked like he enjoyed ordering me around, but the other dog looked about ready to jump out of his fur for the chance to tear me apart.
 
 As soon as my hooves touched the ground the second hellhound charged and attacked mr relentlessly. Swing, dodge. Swing, dodge. Pounce, roll and run. I was faster than him, but just barely. One wrong move and I could lose my head, and I like it where it is thank you very much.
 
 I wanted to counter attack but his slashes were too quick and too often for me to risk it. I felt the cold touch of one of the large rocks on my back right as he brought a clawed arm down at me. Well I hope this works... I ducked and he struck the rock hard, burying his claws deep into the soft desert rock. It wasn't much of an opening but it was all I needed to lunge up at him and bury my life deep in his chest. If dog anatomy is anything like pony anatomy that should have been a lung.
 
 I pulled my knife out and rolled to the side in case he decided to keep fighting, but he crumpled to the ground holding a paw over the wound. His breathing was coming in short gasps and his pained expression told me I was right about the lung. Knowing better than to have my back to Raze I trotted a safe distance from the injured dog and faced the last one standing.
 
 I could see the hatred in his eyes as he looked at me. I returned his look with a confident smile. "What's the matter Raze, jealous because I'm a better dancer than you and your friends?" I certainly sounded more confident than I was. In reality I was tired, covered in sweat, and still scared out of my mind. But if there's one thing I've learned about bullies, is that they love it more than anything when they get too see how much you fear them.
 
 "I'm going to hurt you, pony. I'm going to rip you into little pieces and feed them to the ghouls. And I'll make sure your friend gets to watch. But first I'm going to break every bone in your body and make you watch as I kill your griffon friend."
 
 "Well let's tango then."
 
 Raze howled before charging at me, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. The moment he reached me he started swinging, his heavy arms barely missing as I dodged for my life. He was far slower than the last hellhound, but I could feel the air whip past me with each swing. Wouldn't matter if he got me with his claws or not, one hit from that and this fight is over.
 
 I ducked under a right swing and barely managed to jump to the right and evade another swipe from the left. Taking the opportunity I jumped over him with a flap of my wings, bringing a scaled blade down on his head as I passed. No sooner had I landed Raze spun around and slammed the back of his hand into my jaw. I was sent sprawling several feet away, my mind fighting to remain conscious and regain its senses.
 
 Once my vision cleared I turned to see Raze approaching me with a triumphant grin. His bone helmet was shattered on the ground behind him, but other than a small cut he was unharmed. I tried to get back to my hooves but he jumped on me too fast. He pinned my chest under a knee as he wrapped a hand around my throat. My breathe game out in short gasps as he laughed above me.
 
 "See pony? Dogs are better hunters, fighters, and killers. One day you ponies will learn your place is beneath us, but until then I'll just keep killing you one by one.
 
 I turned my head and saw Finder looking over the edge of his rock, tears in his eyes. I couldn't find my voice, so I just mouthed the word 'run'. He stayed there and watched for a moment, but quickly turned and disappeared out of sight. Well at least one of us is going to make it out of here...
 
 My vision was turning black, but I still had one more thing to do to make sure Finder could get away. With my left hoof I tried reaching for a rock just a little too far away, hoping to distract his attention. It worked, and soon he was mocking me.
 
 "Go ahead pony, fight for your life. In fact feel free to beg while you're at it."
 
 He let go of my neck and put slightly less weight on my chest. Little did he know he only made my plan that much easier. I waited until his attention was distracted by my hoof, almost reaching that rock. As soon as he looked away I brought a wing up and sliced at the back of his leg, right below the knee. While not a fatal injury by any means, severing a tendon like that will ensure he'll never be able to chase anything again.
 
 He howled in pain and let off of my chest just long enough for me to roll to the side, evading the clawed fist he slammed angrily into the ground. Before I could try to run he grabbed me by a wing (Ow!) and hurled me as hard as he could into one of the large rocks.
 
 Thankfully I didn't hit head first, but I blacked out for several seconds and I knew something was very wrong with my wing.  I looked up to see the approaching form of Raze, his bloody leg limping and his eyes full of hatred. Despite it all I couldn't stop the smirk coming across my face. "How are you going to hunt anything while you're limping like that?"
 
 His expression didn't change, but then again I don't think he could possibly have looked more angry anyways. Just as he reached me I felt a small shadow pass over me. Finder!
 
 He leapt off of the rock behind me and drive my knife deep into the hellhound's shoulder. Raze looked barely offended as he grabbed Finder and slammed him into the ground. Finder was still conscious and kicking at him so Raze must be getting tired.
 
 He raised a clawed hand and looked at me with a wicked grin. I have to do something to help Finder!
 
 "Wait! Don't hurt him please! Do what you want with me just leave him alone!" My voice was raspy and mixed with coughing fits, but I know I got the point across.
 
“Ha! Don’t worry I’ll cut you up and mix you with some bloodwing meat soon enough. But first I’m going to make you suffer for a while.”
 
I wanted to get up, to keep fighting and save Finder. But my body just wouldn’t move! As the darkness overcame my vision the last thing I saw was Raze bringing his massive arm down, accompanied by a loud bang.
 
 

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Level Up!
 
Filly’s League +2: Years of practice with your blades has honed your skill with melee weapons. +5 to melee damage
> Chapter 8 - Not Your Average Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel cold, the darkness was pressing in all around me. It threatened to crush me, and it took all of my strength to keep walking forward. The pain increased with each step, but I wasn't going to give up. Just put one hoof, in front of the other... I sang the song in my head as I pressed forward, slowly getting closer to the faint light in the distance. A heavy weight settled on my shoulders, getting heavier with every step. It felt like I was being crushed, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but collapse to the ground.
 
Tears formed in my eyes as I grit my teeth against the pain. Everything hurt so much! I tried again and again to get to my hooves but the chilling darkness pressing against me just made it hurt more each time.  I wanted to quit, to make the pain and sadness go away.
 
I could see my home, Desert Springs behind me. Its warmth was just out of reach and I could take no comfort in its peace. I saw Sandy and Lily walking through the streets, each wearing carefree smiles as they trotted into Mr. General's store. Miss Laps was talking with the Rose Sisters, and for once they all seemed like they agreed on something.
 
I wanted to go back there, back to those peaceful times when the most I had to worry about was a drunk ganger or a complacent merchant. Before I knew how the wasteland really was, before I had anything expected of me. I felt my body slowly being pulled back there, the pain fading away the closer I got to those happy memories.
 
"Why did you kill us?"
 
"Why didn't you save us?"
 
"NO!"
 
I will not sit by and let ponies suffer like this anymore. I've wasted enough time already just sitting around Desert Springs doing nothing, if there's even just one pony I can save from the wasteland then I'm going to do it or die trying!
 
I grit my teeth and fought back the tears in my eyes as I tried again to get to my hooves. Nope, I was barely off of the ground before I collapsed. Again! This time I stood all the way up, but I buckled as soon as I tried to take a step.
 
Come on Updraft, again! I got my hooves under me and fought with all of my strength. It hurt more than anything I've ever felt, and I had a hole blown through my chest before! I took one step, then another. The farther I walked the worse images started coming to my mind.
 
Me being bullied and hurt as a filly back in Desert Springs. Four lifeless bodies looking at me for answers. A wall of horrified faces, and a pile of corpses. The eyes of bloodwings stalking me in the dark.
 
And not all of them were memories. I saw Finder covered in blood at the hooves of some slavers, and Bora trapped in a cage surrounded by raiders. I saw myself pinned under Raze, covered in my own blood and fear in my eyes. More and more images came to my head, each worse than the ones before it. But I kept on walking, getting closer to the faint light one step at a time.
 
Finally I got within reach of its soft glow warming my heart. As I reached out to touch it...
 


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"...up! She's waking up!"
 
"Get Onyx, quick!"
 
"... Doesn’t look so good."
 
What's with these ponies, can't they see I'm trying to sleep? I could make out two voices, both were male and not ponies I've ever met. I heard a set of hoofsteps echo off of the wooden floors as another pony walked in.
 
"Alright alright, let's give the patient some space." A third voice, female and about my age, intoned. "Out! Come on out with you, let the doctor do her work."
 
Thank you, now I can go back to sleep.
 
"Alright wakey-wakey, you're awfully slow to get up considering how lucky you are to be alive."
 
I sprung to full alertness and sat up. "Gah! Where's Finder? Is he okay? The hellhounds! Raze was about to-"
 
"Whoa now simmer down Sally, take it slow. You're body hasn't recovered from the venom yet, and your wing is still messed up."
 
Now that she mentioned it... Ow! I had a huge headache, my body ached all over, and it felt like a thousand needles were stabbing my wing. I groaned and laid back down with a hoof over my head. "What happened?"
 
She sat down on a chair next to the bed and started skimming through a pile of books. "So you really don't know? He wasn't kidding you really were out cold the whole time. You and your friends got attacked by bandits out near the minefields. Your griffon friend fought em' off but a radscorpion got ya when you were laying there alone."
 
Radscorpion? But aren't stings from those always fatal out here?
 
"They brought ya here hoping we could help but we haven't had antivenom here since I was a filly. But somehow you're still alive and well, had one hundred forty two degree fever too! Darndest thing I've ever seen I'll tell you that much."
 
She gave me a glass of water which I gratefully accepted. After drinking the whole thing in about ten seconds flat I looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry I'm a little thirsty may I have another?"
 
She laughed before standing up and taking the glass with her magic. "Well aren't you just a polite one. Tell you what it'd do your body good to move around, why don't you go to the front and get something from the bar. Drinks are always on the house for all of our patients. Sorry about the pain though I'm all out of Med-X so the most I can give you is a pat on the back."
 
I slowly climbed off of the bed and onto my hooves, stretching my limbs while being careful not to agitate my hurt wing. "I can't thank you enough, how much do I owe you?" I spotted my bags in a corner of the room and started digging through it to find my caps.
 
"Don't worry about it I'd never charge a pony to save their life. You can pay me by not going and getting yourself killed." She smiled and set the empty glass on the table next to the door.
 
It was a little challenging but I managed to give be a light hug and a 'thank you'. I grabbed my bags in my mouth before walking through the door and into the front of the ragged building. Hospital in the back of a bar? Seems legit. The room was mostly empty save for two ponies at a card table in the corner. The farthest wall had a door and two windows, the sunlight outside pouring in and lighting up the room in all of its dusty glory.
 
To my right was a bar that ran the length of the room. Behind it stood a dark green unicorn stallion wearing a black leather vest and a smile.
 
“Well if it isn’t the latest miracle of the wasteland, how ya feelin’?”
 
I set my bags on the floor and sat on a barstool. Resting my head on the bar top I looked at the bartender with a small hint of a smile. “Bleh. I’d rather be sleeping honestly.”
 
He laughed and poured himself a drink. “I would have thought a day and a half would have been enough. But hey to each their own right?”
 
I buried my face in my hooves on the bar. “That long? Finder must have been so worried…”
 
“That your friend’s name? He’s a strange one that’s for sure. Then again from what I’ve heard about killing joke he’s lucky to still be alive.”
 
He pulled several bottles out from behind the counter with his hooves and began mixing small amounts of each into a small metal canister. After giving it a few shakes he poured the contents into two small glasses and carried it over to the two ponies at the card table.
 
I watched the exchange with mild interest. None of them said a word: he simply set the drinks down and left them to their business. He walked back behind the bar and propped his hooves on the counter.
 
“So while I’m at it is there anything I can get for you to drink? Hard cider, cold beer, maybe some Applejack Daniels?” He gave me a wink with that last one prompting me to guess it was hard to come by out here.
 
“Actually I was wondering if you had any… um… Brahmin milk?” I looked away sheepishly as he put on a horrified expression.
 
“You actually drink that stuff? No wonder radscorpion venom couldn’t kill you, you’ve gotta be tough as nails to keep that stuff down!”
 
“Oh… Well I mean if you don’t have any…”
 
He laughed and patted my shoulder. “No worries I’m sure I can find some around here lickity-split.” He walked through a door behind the bar and out of view.
 
I almost dozed off as soon as he left but a voice from behind me made me spring to life. “Brahmin milk huh? Must have been a long day.”
 
“Sandy?” Springing from my seat I hugged my friend tightly. I didn’t even notice the pain as I cried into her shoulder. “I’ve missed you so much!”
 
She chuckled and hugged me back. “Yes I can tell. And what’s with all these bandages, have you been getting yourself hurt again?”
 
After a moment I let go and wiped the tears from my eyes. “Just doing my job and helping ponies. What about you, why are you way out here?”
 
We both took seats at the bar as she talked. “Well after you left things got a little crazy for a while. The Red Gang searched the whole town top to bottom for you but after they gave up they all left and haven’t come back for anything but water. A couple ponies volunteered to help with the guard duty, including that cute buck from the scrap shop.” We both giggled as I tried to imagine that little guy trying to intimidate a ganger.
 
“And of course Lily too. She finally told that old pervert of a bar owner to buck off so I didn’t really have much of a choice but to let her join me on guard duty.”
 
I wish I could have been there to see that, you go Lily! “Anyways I’m just here escorting a caravan through the area. The mayor thought of the idea. We start providing escort services for a small fee, and in return the caravans start spreading the word about our little town. Everypony wins.”
 
“But aren’t the gangs supposed to be doing the escort stuff? I thought they were getting rich off of that scam.”
 
She scratched her chin for a moment and shrugged. “The Red Tails are barely even present anymore, they seem to be falling part. No surprise since Red Baron is crazy as a loon.” She whispered that last part with a wink.
 
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Tell me about it…”
 
“The Green Rangers are doing… Celestia knows what. They keep watch over the caravans and the town, but they keep sending groups of ponies in every direction only for them to come back sometimes days later carrying crates and loaded with scrap.”
 
“The Blue Blazers are touchy as usual, every time somepony sneezes they act like a bomb went off. And the Yellow Jackets still hate everyone and everything so nothing’s changed there. As far as business goes the only gang that isn’t slacking off is the Green Rangers, which is funny since they’re the only gang doing anything other than watching the town.”
 
“That’s not surprising since those ponies are the only ones who care about anything other than guns, alcohol and mares.” We both shared a quick laugh as I rested my head on the bar top.
 
“Hey Updraft?”
 
“Hmm?”

“I got your milk.”
 
Wait, what?
 
“Hey did you fall asleep already?”
 
“…huh?” I lifted my head to see the buck behind the counter looking at me with concern. A quick check of the room assured me that Sandy was nowhere to be seen. Did I really just dream that?
 
The green unicorn set a tall glass on the bar a few inches from my hooves before taking a seat on one of the barstools next t me. “Something on your mind? I’m a pretty good listener. Comes with the job.”
 
I looked at the glass of milk with a sad smile. “S’nothing. Just tired… And a little homesick.”
 
With an ‘ah’ he scooted his chair a little closer. “The woe of the wanderer, the travail of the traveler, the- you get the point. A lot of ponies come through here with that exact problem, and do you know what I always tell them? If your heart is telling you to do something, you’re not going to be happy until you do it.”
 
“Easier said than done. I’d love to go home even for just a day but I can’t. A creepy gang leader wants me to be his wife or something, and Celestia knows what he’ll do if I tell him no.”
 
“Oh. Well that is a bit of a problem. Afraid I can’t really help with that one, forced marriage is a new one to me.” He shrugged and got to his hooves, walking to the front door to greet a few ponies walking in. “Hello and welcome to Beryl’s Bar. I’m the owner and operator of this fine establishment, is there anything I can get for you?”
 
Beryl huh? ‘What a strange name’, I thought as I drifted off to sleep again. Oddly enough it was the best sleep I’ve had for a while, despite me sitting on a barstool and using a hoof for a pillow. No horrible nightmares that leave me a crying mess when I wake up, no confusing dreams, just peaceful sleep.
 
It was dark outside when I woke up and the bar was filled with ponies drinking and gambling. Even the barstools around me were filled with ponies laughing and sharing stories. To my left was a particularly large stallion laughing heartily at a joke that was probably a lot less funny to sober ponies. How had I been sleeping through this?
 
“Oi! The lass is awake, let’s give her a warm welcome!” Somepony shouted from somewhere in the room. Immediately all eyes fell on me and for a moment the whole bar went silent.
 
“Umm… Hello everypony, my name’s Updraft…” I don’t think my cheeks could have burned hotter.
 
“A toast for Updraft! The crazy pony who took on three hellhounds and won!”
 
“That’s not exactly true…”
 
“Here here! And without any guns either!” The crowd began to drink and cheer even louder as they all began to chant my name. Oh dear.
 
“This is the kind of stuff that makes legends you know? Keep this up and ponies will be telling your stories or years.”
 
I nearly jumped out of my seat when a griffon sat down next to me, my reaction getting a chuckle from him. “Relax I don’t bite, especially after what you went through to save my life.”
 
I sat up and turned to face him. “Oh so you were the griffon we found in Las Pegasus? What happened to you?”
 
 He took a sip from a bottle of Applejack Daniels. "My crew and I were escorting a high priority client through the area and got ambushed by bandits, a lot of them. They hid in the sand until we were right on top of them then they sprung up like landmines, dozens of them. Most of my Talons got butchered in seconds, and the rest died before we could find any kind of cover."
 
He took another sip of whiskey and offered it to me. I kindly declined. "By the time we got to an old radio station nearby, the only ones left were myself, the captain, the twins, and the client. The bandits didn't know how many of us were left but they were already starting to surround us. With nowhere left to run we made the only choice we had left. The twins and I flew north for all we were worth while the captain waited until the bandits were too distracted to notice her flying with the client to the south."
 
"The twins got out no problem, but I wasn't quite so lucky. My wing was the first casualty, then a leg and arm. By the time I made it to Las Pegasus I was probably full of holes and definitely running out of blood. I had four more slugs in my 8 ga. and let me tell you that sure can make a mess out of a hellhound's face at point blank range. So I hobbled my way into that cellar and waited for death to come."
 
"Next thing I know I'm waking up in the middle of the desert and some crazy pegasus is trying to fight three hellhounds with a knife and wingblades."
 
I breathed a sigh of relief. "So you're the one who saved Finder?"
 
"Well I was saving myself as much as anyone, but yeah. Your friend is surprisingly shy considering he looks like someone from a kids' nightmare."
 
"I know he may look a little scary but trust me he'd never hurt anypony. He's as nice as they come." I stared at my milk with a frown. It was definitely room temperature by now.
 
"He really cares about you, you know? He stayed by your bed the whole time until Onyx practically shoved him out. And ever since then he's been working on something for you up on the roof. You two know each other for long?"
 
How long had it been? Just over a week? Time sure flies when you're on an adventure and constantly running for your life. "About a week. Actually I'm going to take a walk if you don't mind." He nodded and took another sip of his whiskey.
 
I stood up slowly and grabbed my bags in my mouth again. My back still ached too much for me to put anything back there just yet. Walking outside I finally managed to get away from the small crowd inside and around the bar. I hope they don't mind me slipping outside seeing as I'm apparently the guest of honor or something.
 
Now to find out how Finder got up on the roof. I tried flying up there but fully extending my wing was as far as I got before I decided that was a terrible idea. Stairs? No... Ladder? No... As I neared the back of the bar I could see a pile of trash and lumber piled up against the building. Aha!
 
I started climbing the makeshift staircase being careful not to step on any- OW! Nails... Finally I got high enough to see Finder sitting on the opposite side of the roof, overlooking the door. He was surrounded by books and was carefully turning the pages of one I recognized as my Cirran-Equestrian dictionary.
 
I carefully made my way to the top of the rubble, but as soon as I reached out to put a hoof on the roof I felt something shift beneath me. Oh no...
 
I fell into the collapsing wood and scrap, getting more than a few scratches on the way before the dust settled. I landed on my back covered by some of the junk and paralyzed from the pain.
 
"Updraft? Updraft! Hold on I'm coming!"
 
I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut from the pain as I laid there. Aside from my back feeling like a manticore did a tap dance on it, something definitely felt wrong with my right wing. It only took Finder a few moments to be at my side and throwing the debris off of me.
 
"Are you alright? Is anything broken?" He helped me to my hooves and out of the pile. I sat on my haunches and tried to not show how much everything hurt.
 
"I think everything's okay, but I bet Onyx will be upset that I already got myself hurt again." I tried to laugh but it hurt too much so I settled for a pained smile.
 
Finder laughed and gently dusted me off. "Come on Angel of the Wastes lets go get you patched up. Again."
 
I booped him on the nose before slowly rising and walking around the building with him. "I told you to stop calling me that."
 
"And Onyx told you to not hurt yourself anymore so it seems we're all just bad listeners." Fair enough. Wait how did he... never mind. It's Finder, I've given up trying to understand how he does things.
 
We walked back into the bar and I did my best to stand up tall and hold my head high. Most of the patrons didn't even notice us as we sneaked around the majority of the ponies. The griffon from before quirked an eye as he saw me covered in more scratches than before but he didn't say anything as we passed him and walked back into the clinic.
 
"Hello welcome to the hospital in the middle of nowhere, what can I-" Onyx stared at me with a scowl, which quickly turned to a resigned shrug. "I'm not even going to ask. Come on let's get those bandages replaced."
 
I thanked her and climbed up on the same bed I woke up on this morning. She used her magic to gently remove all the dusty and scratched up bandages covering me. She pulled out a bottle filled with some kind of gross looking green paste and covered her hoof in the stuff.
 
"This will help heal all of the scratches and bruises much faster than normal without any scarring. Sure a healing potion does the same thing even faster, but this stuff is easy to make and a lot cheaper to get out here." After applying a small amount all over me (That stuff was cold!) she wrapped me up in clean bandages.
 
"Okay so this time let's try to make it a full day at least. And next time I'm charging you, I've gotta make a living too ya know."
 
Finder took out his bag of caps as he browsed her stock of medical supplies. "Any chance I can buy some of this stuff? I have a feeling I'm going to need to start carrying a lot more medical supplies than usual." Even with my back turned I just knew he had to be nodding in my general direction.
 
"Well I can't guarantee the best prices but I'll sell you what I can spare. No Med-X though we've been out of that stuff for a while."
 
"I don't trust the stuff anyways. I've met too many ponies hooked on the stuff. What about healing potions and bandages? Also I'd like to have a jar of that green stuff around for the less serious injuries..."
 
I gave Finder my share of caps and left him to do business with Onyx. I never was very good at bartering, ponies always just told me a price and I paid it. The party in the bar was still in full swing with ponies getting more drunk by the minute. I saw the griffon still sitting at the bar, quietly sipping on his Applejack Daniels.
 
"Not much of a party goer?" I took a seat next to him and again politely declined his offer of whiskey.
 
"Usually, I just got a lot on my mind. A lot of good friends died on that last job, and all that's probably left of them now are just memories."
 
Wow, nice one Updraft. I leaned over and gave him as tight of a hug as I could manage, and with a confused expression he returned it.
 
"What was that all about?"
 
I waved to Beryl across the room and without a word he soon disappeared through the door behind the bar. "Hugs make everything better, duh." Seriously did he not know that?
 
"Right, I would love to see the science behind that."
 
"Well earlier you were all depressed and stuff right? And now here we are discussing the science behind hugs and why such a strange way of showing affection is capable of improving one's mood. I'd say that's slightly better than being sad right?" See I can be a smart pony too sometimes.
 
He laughed and took another drink of his whiskey. "Anyone ever tell you that you have a strange way of looking at things? Name's Griff by the way. Yeah I know Griff the griffon. My parents had a great sense of humor."
 
"Updraft, nice to meet you. And hey where I'm from the general store is run by an old pony named Mr. General so you're not the only one."
 
"So what's your story anyways? What's a crazy pegasus doing wandering around in the desert with a mutated earth pony saving injured griffons?"
 
I laughed and swatted at him with my tail. "Hey I'm not crazy, just eccentric. Anyways long story short I can't go back home so I'm just wandering around helping who I can. Right now Finder and I are trying to find his parents since they got separated awhile back."
 
Beryl came back and set a tall glass of Brahmin milk in front of me. "It got cold so I heated it back up for you." He looked at a moment and shivered before walking off to tend to another customer.
 
I took a sip from the glass and smiled as I savored the taste. Most ponies couldn't stand the stuff but to me few things tasted better after a long day. Griff looked at me like I'd just taken a bite out of the bar.
 
"You actually... Drink that? Like you're willingly subjecting yourself to that?"
 
"Have you ever tasted it?" He stared at me blankly. "Aha! If you've never tried it then how do you know you won't like it?"
 
"I've never tried radiation sickness either but I'm pretty confident I won't enjoy that either." He gave me a flat look before taking another drink of his whiskey.
 
"Now you're just being a big baby. You don't know what you're missing." I took another sip and let out a content sigh.
 
"Fine I'll take a drink of that stuff if you take a drink of this." He slid his bottle of whiskey in front of me and adopted a mischievous grin. "You've refused to drink it every time I've offered to you and I think it's because you can't hold your liquor."
 
"You sure about this? Think about it long and hard."
 
"Prove me wrong." Oh how he was going to regret those words. By now there were several ponies around us listening in and cheering me on. I took the bottle in my hooves and swirled its contents around. This must have been pretty expensive, it was pretty clean and the bottle was nice too.
 
It was about a quarter of the way full. Oh this will be easy. I set the bottle down on the bar and looked back at Griff. "You're fucked." I picked the bottle up by the neck with just my mouth and drank the whole thing, not even stopping for air.
 
The other ponies all cheered as I set the empty bottle back down, my hooves never even leaving the counter. "I've been drinking that stuff before I even had my Cutie Mark, you sure called that one wrong."
 
The crowd around us was growing larger as I passed the glass of milk to Griff. "You're up and try to not disappoint all these ponies."
 
He looked at the drink before him with a hint of fear. "This isn't going to make me sick or something right?"
 
"Only if your weak now come on I held up my end of the deal." Poor guy had no idea what he got himself into.
 
He took a calming breath, closed his eyes, and took a large drink of the milk without batting an eye. To his credit he actually swallowed and held it down. For about three seconds. His eyes opened as he started to panic.
 
"What is that?! The taste won't go away!" He grabbed somepony’s bottle of booze and started to chug it down. Apparently that only made it worse because he ripped through the crowd and out the front door.
 
I cheered and threw my hooves in the air. "I win! Who's next?" Surprisingly quite a few ponies decided to make a game out of it to see who could keep it down the longest. Even Beryl gave it a try.
 
Out of the seven contestants only one was able to keep it down, and he was a young colt who didn't even have his Cutie Mark! I gave him a kiss on the forehead for his bravery.
 
It took a few hours for the party to die down. It was just Beryl, Griff, and I when Finder and Onyx trotted out of the back room. I took my last drink of Brahmin milk (Griff still looked at it with a scowl every time I drank some.) before standing up and stretching my aching muscles.
 
"What took you two so long?"
 
Finder set his bags on the floor and hopped up on a barstool. "Well since I'm no good for fighting I figured I'd try to learn a little more about being a medical pony."
 
Onyx trotted behind the bar and gave Beryl a kiss (Aha! I knew it!). "And he's quite good at it too. With the practice you'll get from traveling with her I'll bet you'll be a respectable doctor in no time."
 
"Hey I'm not that bad..." I looked back at my bandaged body... the wing which was yet again wrapped up... "Anypony know a good health insurance company?"
 
Griff rolled his eyes and collected his things. "They would never accept your application with your track record. Come on let's get some beds before it gets any later."
 
Onyx frowned as she started to clean off a table. "And expect a visitor as soon as the sun is up. I managed to keep Mr. Carbuncle off your back for today but tomorrow he's gonna want to ask you some questions."
 
Beryl snorted as he cleaned off the bar. "That old codger is the self-appointed mayor of this town, thinks he runs the place for some reason. Chases off anypony he doesn't like and keeps most of the caravans away."
 
Onyx threw a dirty rag at him. "Oh come on those are just rumors. Sure the old buck can be a bit... off putting, but he doesn't chase ponies off without a good reason."
 
"Last week he hit a merchant in the head with a bat because he thought his prices were too high."
 
"Well they were awfully high..."
 
"The week before that he threw rocks at a group of talons that were just trying to get water on their way through."
 
"Well they did come into town carrying a lot of guns..." Even she didn't sound convinced by that argument. Beryl sighed and moved on to cleaning the barstools.
 
"Look I'm not saying he's a foalnapper or something, just be careful about what you say around him. You're in no condition to be traveling the desert yet, and I don't want to go out there looking for you because he decided he doesn't like the same color you do."
 
"Thanks for the warning I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I ushered Finder and Griff out before things could devolve into some kind of marital dispute. We walked through the street enjoying the calm night and cool air.
 
I frowned and sniffed at the air. "Enjoy it while you can. Sandstorm's coming, probably tomorrow morning sometime." The others just stared at me. "What?"
 
Finder tried to suppress a giggle, but Griff didn't hold back as he fell over laughing. "You really think you... can smell... a sandstorm?"
 
My face turned red as I tried to make my mouth work. "N-no of course not! There's more water in the air than normal and that means a strong northerly wind is coming in. Those always bring sandstorms!"
 
By now they were both laughing uncontrollably. Griff especially just wouldn't let it go... "Can you smell my breath and know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow?" Finder thought that one was particularly funny and soon he was on the ground laughing as much as Griff.
 
"Alright fine don't believe me then, but don't come crying to me when you wake up tomorrow and your bed is full of sand." I let out a 'humph' and trotted away as they both kept laughing in the street.
 
"Wait Updraft come back, we need your freaky knowledge of the weather so we'll know when we need to pack an umbrella!"
 
I left the two giggling fillies behind and trotted around a corner and out of sight. As I walked the length of the town I saw several hotels with vacancy, but I was looking for something in particular. No windows or at least ones that could close. Finally I found what appeared to be an old mansion with a sign proudly proclaiming 'Miner's Motel'.
 
The firehouse red building had definitely seen better days, and it was easy to see the repairs and adjustments the owners have made over the years to keep it standing. I walked through the double doors and into the motel's lobby.
 
It wasn't much to look at save for the scratched and faded murals on the walls depicting life before the bombs fell. One was of children playing in the streets of town, another of a group of ponies covered in black stuff at the end of a work day. I walked along the wall looking at the artwork until I walked face-first into an opening door.
 
The two mares looked at me with surprise until their gaze wandered to my back. Whatever apology the leading, green unicorn mare had in mind died as she sneered. "Oops, didn't see you there." She raised her nose and trotted past me, swatting my face with her tail.
 
The other, blue mare stopped and looked at me with eyes full of a familiar look of hatred. She walked by me as well but decided it would be funny to buck my chest with both hindlegs after she passed.
 
I slammed into the wall and gasped for air. "Hey! What... what was that for?"
 
They both stopped as the first mare laughed. "Oh boo-hoo, why don't you fly off and go cry about it to be rest of your bird friends?"
 
The earth pony mare took a step towards me. "Yeah why don't you just leave? Not like we want you here anyways."
 
The unicorn caught on and took a few more steps towards me. "Aww too scared to move on your own? Don't worry we can help."
 
I stood to my full height and tried to hide how much my body was hurting right now. "Can we not do this? I don't want any trouble I'm just looking for a place to stay the night."
 
They both looked at each other before turning to me with warm smiles. The unicorn walked over until she was right in front of me, making sure to demonstrate the large height difference between us. "Oh well why didn't you say so in the first place! Don't worry dear we know just the place for you."
 
By now I already knew what was about to happen and I dropped the cool pony act. There was no way I could really put up a fight like I was and they knew it. I slumped against the wall and let out a resigned sigh. "This is going to hurt a lot isn't it?"
 
She leaned down and whispered sweetly in my ear. "You have no idea."
 


^                          ^                          ^

 

I was met with the familiar taste of dirt as I was yet again shoved to the ground. After hurling me through the motel’s front door, the unicorn mare dragged me into an alley across the street. Sometime along the way another unicorn mare joined in, and she was the worst of the three. She came up with one particular game they all seemed to enjoy. They would prop me up on my haunches before bucking my side and seeing how far they could get me.
 
I sure hope ponyball doesn’t catch on…
 
Eventually they got tired of kicking me around so they settled for another cruel activity. Again the third mare was the one who came up with the idea. They found a pair of dull, rusty scissors and thought it would be funny to start cutting patches out of my mane and tail.
 
Okay kicking me around and calling me names was bad enough, but this is what finally drove me to anger. I mean sure I know I’m not the prettiest pony ever and I don’t spend a bunch of time getting myself to look ‘just so’, but still this was different. This wasn’t something I could fix or just pretend it didn’t happen. Who knows how long it will take for it to all grow back! And in the meantime I’m going to be wandering around looking like a complete basket case!
 
I was pinned on the ground by two of them as the unicorn continued cutting piece after piece of my hair. I looked up at her with the angriest eyes I could manage. “Aw are you mad? We’re only trying to help you look as stupid as you actually are.”
 
“Yeah we’re just trying to help don’t be so ungrateful.” Echoed one of the other mares as she laughed.
 
Snip. Snip. I tried as hard as I could to push them off of me but they were big ponies, I was not. That on top of my previous and new injuries pretty much left my options with staring at them and thinking angry thoughts. As expected it didn't make them stop.
 
Finally she got bored with thrashing my hair so she threw the scissors away and stretched. “This is impossible, you’re just too stupid for me to recreate it.”
 
“Vos creo quispios achanua omni tempore vos habere cogitatios.”
 
“What was that?”
 
“That’s Cirran darling, an ancient and educated language. I said that you’re lying. You create something that stupid every time you have a thought.”
 
For the first time that night the green unicorn lost her temper. She lunged at me and was barely held back by the other two mares. “I’ll kill her! Hear that bitch I’ll kill you!”
 
“Then do it. Do it! I know you’ve wanted to since you first saw me!” I screamed as loud as my dry throat could. “You’re all the same. You think this is the first time I’ve been treated like this? I was dealing with this shit before I even had my Cutie Mark. I lost count how many times ponies found me in a bloody mess in some dark alley or collapsed building. So just go ahead and kill me already, do us all a favor.”
 
All three of them were dead silent as they listened. Finally the unicorn mare snorted and trotted back into the street. “Come on Hessonite we have better things to do.” She paused as she eyed my saddlebags lying near the entrance to the alley. With a smirk she grabbed it with her magic and disappeared around the corner.
 
The reddish-brown mare followed her, but not without kicking me one more time just because she knew she could get away with it. The blue mare didn’t leave though, instead she sat and stared at me with a hint of confusion.
 
“Is that true? You were treated like that even as a child?”

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deep breaths, no matter how much it hurt. “Yes. I didn’t have any family growing up in Desert Springs, and as I’m sure you could guess I didn’t make a lot of friends. So whenever the other colts and fillies got bored, or whenever an older pony got drunk… Well I was an easy target for them to let go of some anger.”
 
She held a hoof over her mouth. “That’s awful… But wait this doesn’t make any sense he told us you were from above the clouds. That you were here to start trouble.”
 
“I’ve never even been above the clouds. I’m too scared of heights to fly that high anyways.” She tilted her head as that sank in. I decided to ask her a question since she at least seemed reasonable enough to talk to. “Why?”
 
“Why what?” She moved a little closer so she could hear me better, but she still acted like I was going to jump up and bite her at any moment.
 
“Why do you hate me? What have I ever done that you think it’s okay to hurt me so much?” Tears came to my eyes as I thought back to all the times this has happened to me. Not once did they ever give me an answer.
 
I looked her in the eyes but she quickly turned her attention to the ground in front of her. “I… I’m sorry I have to go.” She turned tail and trotted out of the alley, her gaze never leaving the ground.
 
Still no answer… I couldn’t move on my own and I definitely couldn’t sleep through this much pain. So I just settled for lying there with my eyes closed until somepony nice enough to help found me. Luckily it wasn’t too long before I heard the shuffling of hooves and whispers near me. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but there were… three of them.
 
I cracked open an eye to see the most brilliant and beautiful purple eyes staring back at me. With a shriek the purple coated filly jumped and ran away, stopping to hide behind an older colt with black fur and a dark, silvery mane. He looked at me with sad, blue eyes.
 
“Are you okay miss?”
 
No, I’m not. I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn’t seem to find my voice, so I settled for nodding my head and closing my eyes again. I felt something poke me in the side causing the pain to flare up.
 
“Pyrite knock it off! She’s obviously hurt. She need us to help her, not make things worse by poking her with a stick. Go get your sled I don’t think she can walk on her own.” I decided the black colt was definitely the oldest of the three. “Just wait a little longer miss we’ll get you fixed up right as rain in a jiffy.”
 
I wanted to ask him what a jiffy was but instead gave him a smile. The unicorn filly never took her eyes off of me as she hid behind the earth pony colt. He however seemed more interested in looking around the alley at the evidence of what happened earlier. There were spots of blood here and there, a small pile of hair nearby, and several feathers that fell out at some point.
 
I lost track of how much time had passed before the other kid came back dragging a sled behind him. Unlike the sled Finder made this one looked like it was made before the war. And it had actual straps instead of rope!
 
Unfortunately for me it was also a children’s toy, so even as small as I am I definitely didn’t fit all the way onboard. Which made the ride quite unpleasant. Bump, ow. Bump, ow. I was surprised that the black colt didn’t have any trouble dragging the sled with me on it. He sure was strong for his age.
 
Come to think of it the three of them didn’t have any trouble picking me up and setting me on the sled either. Maybe they were used to hard work?
 
We finally arrived at… wherever they were taking me. It definitely wasn’t Onyx’s hospital, this was a rundown house just outside of town. They heaved me over the back of the older colt and he carried me to the door. He had a much harder time carrying me by himself, and my hooves were dragging on the ground the whole way.
 
The door creaked loudly as the purple filly opened it for us. The room was dark except for a single lantern lighting up a table on the far side of the room. The young buck sitting there didn’t take his eyes off of the bag he was sowing together. “You’re late. What happened Graphite, they give you four trouble again?”
 
“Something like that…” He carried me over to a corner of the room and laid me down on something soft.
 
The blue earth pony at the table finally looked up from his work and immediately rushed to my side. “Oh shit what happened?” He rushed back to the table and brought the lantern back with him.
 
“I don’t know. We found her in the alley behind Miner’s. She must have made the wrong pony mad I guess.”
 
“Okay and where’s Ammonite?”
 
Graphite sighed as he ushered the other two kids into another room. “Jasper’s making him work overtime again.”
 
The stallion cursed under his breath before turning his attention back to me. “Okay can you walk?” I tried to stand up on my own and actually managed it on the first try! But walking… well let’s just say I was glad there was something soft under me.
 
“Alright don’t hurt yourself.” He crawled under me and picked me up with what must have been practiced ease. Grabbing the lantern in his mouth he carried me through the large house, stopping when we reached a bathroom.
 
“Okay so this might seem a little awkward so just pretend I’m a mare or something. Can you sit up by yourself?” Wait what? He set me in a bathtub and I weakly nodded as I did as he asked. The shower faucet didn’t work so he filled up a bucket with warm water and grabbed a sponge.
 
 Okay he was right this was definitely getting awkward. First he removed the bandages I somehow still had left, then he started gently bathing me with the sponge. With only dim lighting. And he was a stallion. If Sandy was here I’d never live it down.
 
“So you’re the pony everypony’s been talking about right? I heard a griffon brought in an injured pegasus the other day, you don’t hear about that too often.”
 
I finally felt like I could at least talk enough to ask a question or two. “About what?” My voice sounded so weak and distant I almost didn’t recognize it.
 
“Well a pegasus for one, but a griffon showing genuine compassion. Most of the Talons out here are all business, all the time. They usually won’t even share food with a starving foal unless they can get something out of it. They care about their own kind and caps. Nothing more.”
 
But Griff wasn’t like that was he? He seemed so nice to me…Then again I saved his life, and in return he saved mine. Maybe he was just trying to get even with me? I sure hope not, I always wanted a griffon friend. Someone else who could fly and maybe teach me-
 
I squeaked as I felt something rub against the bottom of my wing. Now I’ve never really slapped a pony across the face before, and let me tell you it really hurts your own hoof. “Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do that you just really surprised me!” I hid my red face behind my hooves as he rubbed his cheek where I hit him.
 
“So wings really are a sensitive spot, guess the rumors are true.” He paused a moment before chuckling and picking the sponge back up from the floor. “You know for an injured pony you sure can hit pretty hard.”
 
I felt embarrassed as I tried to hide behind my tail. Unfortunately it was much shorter than it used to be… “I’m really sorry. It’s not that, just brings back a memory I really don’t want to remember.”
 
He thought about that for a moment before dropping the sponge back in the bucket. “So what are you doing all the way out here anyways? I mean we don’t get many visitors out here besides the gem caravans.”
 
“Just traveling with a friend. We were hoping to find his family out here, but so far no luck.” He grabbed a towel that looked like a bunch of dish rags sewn together and started drying me off. I noticed he kept his distance from my wings this time.
 
“Tell me about it. After running an orphanage for all these years if there’s one thing I’m familiar with, it’s broken families. The wasteland is full of em’.” Great, so he’s super attractive and super nice. Did I mention how glad I was that Sandy wasn’t there? “How old is your friend? We accept all ages if he’s interested and willing to help pay the bills.”
 
“He’s a little younger than me I think. But what was that about paying bills?” It was probably selfish of me but I dreaded the thought of Finder staying here. Sure if it made him happy then I wouldn’t make him leave, but he’s about the only friend I have out here.
 
The buck sighed as he finished toweling me off. “Well unfortunately it isn’t much of a charity we’re running here. Food isn’t cheap out here and neither is the rent we have to pay to own a building in town. So the older kids work in the mine and the younger ones work in the gem shop. It’s the only way we can make enough money to make it by.”
 
“So that’s why everypony is all the way out here? A gem mine?”
 
“Yep. Most gem mines went dry during the war, but this one was closed early because there were so many cave-ins. We can’t get to most of the gems yet since the tunnels are in such bad shape, but we make enough money from the caravans to get by.”
 
He hung the towel on a hook and helped me back out of the bathtub. I felt good enough to walk so long as he let me lean on him. (I swear that’s the only reason I was doing it don’t you dare think otherwise!)
 
He led me back though a hallway and into a bedroom full of bunk beds. Several of them already had sleeping fillies and colts on them. He motioned for me to take the bottom bed nearest to the door. "Name's Quick by the way, Quick Wick."

And the name's here just keep getting stranger... "Updraft, thanks and nice to meet you."  As I laid down he crept back into the hall, as soon as he left the room got too dark to see.
 
Unfortunately my heart was fluttering in my chest a little too much for me to sleep just yet so I laid there and thought about what I was going to do next. There was definitely a sandstorm coming tomorrow no matter what those blockheads thought, so we are going to be stuck here for a day or two at least.
 
Maybe I could do a little work and try to earn some caps? Certainly sounds like they could use some help around here and I really don’t like the idea of little kids having to work in a mine for their food.
 
With a plan in mind I eventually drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face. All things considered today wasn’t so bad after all.



^                          ^                          ^


No Level Up.

Character Updates!

Name: Griff
Gender: Male
Race: Griffon
Age: 32
Appearance: The majority of his feather are brown, with white feathers accenting his wings, neck, and arms; his white feathers have a teal accent; teal eye color.
Cutie Mark: N/A
Size: Average for a griffon.
Occupation: Talon mercenary.
Weapons of Choice: Double Barrel 8 Ga. Shotgun (Brushgun), ad his two quick draw revolvers, .45 Long Colt.
Skillset: Unknown

Name: Quick Wick
Gender: Male
Race: Earth Pony
Age: 20
Appearance: Blue coat; “well kept” brown mane/tail/eyes.
Cutie Mark: A candle
Size: average
Occupation: scavenger, runs an orphanage
Weapons of Choice: Unknown
Skillset: Unknown, but he's super good looking so who cares! Shaddup Updraft quit breaking the fourth wall!

Author's Note

I want to give out a big thanks to Kkat for being awesome as always, and for letting me take part in her amazing world building. I also want to thank The 24th Pegasus and LoyalLiar for letting me use some of the ideas from their universe to make mine a little more unique.
 
As always feel free to PM me if you have any question, comments, or concerns! Or feel free to leave them in the comments section below. ^_^

P.S. How do you guys feel about chapter length? Like the 9k words long chapters more, or the shorter ones closer to 5/6k words?
> Chapter 9 - A Slight Inturruption
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat dumbfounded as I stared ahead. I remember struggling to fight through the darkness in my last dream, and reaching out for a small light. But I woke up as soon as I touched it. Seriously I need to talk to a smart pony about these dreams this is starting to get really weird.

In front of me was the most beautiful display of lights I had ever seen. There were more than I could ever count, all just floating in the darkness around us. Some were closer together than others, and as I watched some disappeared and other new ones appeared out of nowhere. 

I felt something nudge me forward and I turned to see the two lights from the other dreams behind me. The first one sat patiently but the second nudged me again, trying to get me to walk towards the other lights. With a sigh I turned and took a step towards the closest light. 

Just like before every step I took hurt more than the last, and the sight of Desert Springs grew farther and farther away. I really hoped this wouldn't become a recurring dream, it was bad enough feeling like I was becoming less and less likely to ever go home. Actually seeing it was  so much worse...


^                ^                ^


"That bitch!"

Jeez did he have to yell so loudly? It's still dark outside!

"Calm down the others are still sleeping."

Yeah you tell em'!

"Calm down? She's threatening to throw you all back into the wasteland!" Oh boy... I stretched my aching legs and rolled over in my bed. It was still dark but I could see the purple filly from last night laying in the bed across from me. She was awake but I could see the glint of tears marring her brilliant eyes. 

"What's wrong?" I kept my voice at a low whisper so I wouldn't wake up the other sleeping kids in the room.

"I don't like it when they fight. I just want everypony to be nice and get along." You and me both...

I crawled out of bed and got unsteadily to my hooves. I was still about as shaky as a paper bag in a sandstorm but at least I could walk on my own. Sort of... 

After nearly falling twice I made the journey of a whole six feet to Geode's bed and hugged the filly close. Unlike yesterday she didn't seem scared at all, maybe she didn't like the sight of blood? "Don't worry I'm going to march right in there and make them be nice. "

She let go of the hug and looked me up and down. "You? You don't look like you could make a sprite bot be nice."

I took a step back and looked myself over. I was a total wreck, covered in bruises and scratches. (And let's not forget the recent bout of mane and tail loss...) "Okay so I may not look scary but trust me I can sound pretty scary when I want to." 

She crossed her legs over her chest. "Prove it."

I smirked as I stretched my legs. "How?" It didn't matter what happened next. I already distracted her from what was making her sad so I considered this mission a success.

She smiled the biggest smile I could imagine. "I dare you to walk in there and roar like a manticore!"

Oh it's on now, I've been officially dared. That's the most sacred bond there is. No way I can back out now. "Deal. But if I do it and scare them then you have to do something for me."

"Oh yeah? What?"

I leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "You have to help me fix my mane and tail so I can look as pretty as you. Deal?"

She tapped her chin for a moment as she examined my mane. "Yeah I guess I can do that. Name's Geode." She spit on her hoof and held it out. 

"Updraft." I did the same and with a hoof bump our pact was sealed for life. With a grin I crept out of the room and back into the hallway. I could still hear Quick Wick arguing with Graphite.

"... Still won't be enough."

"Then I'll just have to work harder." 

"You're already working harder, and so is Pyrite."

"Then we'll work even harder if we have to. But don't go there please, no pony ever comes back."

"I don't have a choice! We can't keep doing this Graphite. Just barely scraping by, having just enough food to keep the kids going... It's no way for a kid to live you know that as much as anyone."

"Then we'll just have to think of something else. But you can't go there, we need you- AHH!"

I jumped around the corner and gave my fiercest roar, hoping to sound scarier than a kitten at least. It worked and the room was filled with two filly-like screams. I broke out laughing as I saw the older buck jump into the hooves of Graphite, only for him to dump the blue pony on the floor once he saw me. 

"What's the big idea scaring me like that, I thought you were supposed to be too injured to move or something." Graphite huffed as he walked to a corner of the room and sat down on the couch he laid me on last night. 

"Yeah come on after I bathed you and everything..."

Graphite's face almost turned as red as mine did. "Wait what?"

I sat down and shook my head furiously. "Nothing don't worry about it. I'm actually feeling much better now thank you very much. But what's all the fuss about? You two were making Geode cry you know..."

Graphite sighed and walked into the hall, presumably to find a cute purple filly. The other buck sat at a table and started counting a small pile of caps. "No matter how many times I count this it just doesn't seem to get any bigger."

"I know the feeling." I took a seat across from him. Maybe I could help? I didn't have too many caps but every bit helps. I turned to reach into my- "That bitch!"

He almost jumped out of his seat. "What is it?"

"She stole my bags! That unicorn from yesterday took everything I had!" Oh now I was really mad. I even had my wingblades and knives in there! At least Finder still has my books... I hope.

"Well on the bright side at least you're not the only one broke at this table. We have 129 caps all together, and Olivine wants 300 for rent this time. If I can't scrounge up the other 171 caps in two days we won't even have a place to stay..."

"She'd really just kick you out like that? Even the kids?" My own problems can wait, this is seriously messed up.

He scowled as he scooped the caps up and dropped them into a brown sack. "She's been looking for an excuse to get rid of us ever since I started this orphanage. She hates kids and everyone who likes them. Bitter old hag."

"So where's this place you want to go to get the money?" 

"The old crater to the north, you guys passed it on your way here. During the war they built a whole town out there, the first stable too. Then they blew it all up with a stolen Balefire bomb to see the results. Of course the stable survived which became the biggest Equestrian 'fuck you' to the zebras since the war started. But even though the rest of the town got wiped out rumors say there's still a ton of loot if you can stand the radiation."

"Then why hasn't anyone come back?" I had a few guesses why.

"Who knows, no one's lived to talk about it. But it's a chance I'm willing to take, even if I die at least I tried to do what's right for these kids."

"Nope." 

He looked confused at my reply. "What do you mean, 'nope'?"

"Exactly what I said. You're going to stay here and make sure all these kids have somepony here to take care of them." I crossed my hooves to accompany my point.

"And do what, just pretend everything will be fine? I can't afford to wait Updraft this is too important!"

"I'll go to the crater with Finder and see what we can come up with. We've been through a place like that before and I think we'll have a better chance of finding something good than you would by yourself. 

"Well I'm coming with you no way I'm going to let you risk your lives like that without me coming along too."

"Nope."

By now his eye was twitching. He shook his head and adopted a smirk. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. How are you going to stop me?"

I grinned and shouted across the room. "Hey kids Mr. Quick needs a really big hug to remind him how much you love him. I wonder who can give him the biggest hug?" As soon as I said that almost a dozen colts and fillies ran out of the hallway and tackled the poor buck to the floor, smothering him with laughter and hugs. 

Graphite emerged from the hallway with Geode on his back, and he motioned me to follow him through the front door. Behind us I could hear the desperate cries for help coming from Quick. He deserved it.

No sooner had we left the front door that a familiar earth pony mare greeted us. "Good morning sweetie did you have a fun time?" She hugged Geode before letting the filly climb on her back. 

"Sure did momma and look I made a new friend too! She's super awesome and she roared like a manticore this morning and made Graphite and Mr. Quick scream! It was so cool!" They both laughed as she told her story. 

"Oh is that so? Well what's your new friend's name?" She looked up and finally noticed me standing off to the side with a sheepish smile. It looked like her heart stopped when she saw me and her smile immediately faded.

"Umm hi, name's Updraft it's a pleasure to meet you. Geode is a sweet filly, it was fun spending time with her."

She didn't respond for several moments. And when she did it certainly surprised everypony. "My name is Sapphire, a pleasure to meet you as well. I'm sorry Graphite would you mind dropping Geode off at the Oasis on your way to the mine? I just remembered there's something I need to do."

"Oh uhh sure I guess. Come on Geode your mom's got work to do and so do we."

She smiled and hopped down next to me. "That's right! We have to work super hard so next month Updraft won't have to go to the crater again! Come on sidekick!" She galloped down the street with Graphite racing to catch up.

"Hey come on Geode slow down!"

Sapphire glanced at me one last time before running back into town. Well guess I'd better start looking for Finder so I can tell him we have another deathtrap to visit. I must have walked across the town four times before I heard him shouting my name.

"Updraft! There you are I've been looking all over for you!" He climbed down from the top of a collapsing building before stopping just short of hugging me. His relieved expression quickly turned to anger as he looked at me. "Who did this."

"Doesn't matter." I sternly said, not that he seemed to care.

He kicked an empty Sparkle Cola~ bottle laying at his hooves as he shouted. "Like hell it doesn't Updraft! You can't keep doing this, stop protecting ponies when all they do is hurt others! You felt bad about raiders and slavers getting killed, then you wouldn't even kill any of the hellhounds that were trying to kill us. And now this? Some ponies are just bad Updraft, and they don't deserve kindness from anypony. Much less from the pony they're hurting!"

"I don't care! I don't care how much they hurt me or how bad they are. Maybe they don't deserve it but that's what makes us good ponies isn't it? That no matter how much it hurts we still do the right thing, we still show them kindness and love and sometimes even completely forgive them. If all you ever do is kill ponies you think are bad then the wasteland will never get any better!"

We stood there and stared at each other for several more moments before a third voice came from behind me. "Excuse me? Not to be rude but I have something for you."

I turned to see Sapphire standing at the front of the small crowd that had gathered around us. Celestia did these ponies just not have anything better to do than eavesdrop?

She walked up to me and set a familiar brown leather bag at my hooves. "I'm sorry they already stole the caps and food you had, and they sold your knives to the general store down the street. But I managed to get them back for you." 

I looked through my bag and sure enough nearly everything was still there. "What about my wingblades?" I was afraid of what her answer might be. 

She frowned and pulled a broken, mangled mess out of her bag. "I'm sorry I found them like this... I-"

I cut her off with a hug as tears formed in my eyes. "Thank you. This means so much to me." Reluctantly she hugged me back. 

After a moment we separated and I stuffed the broken remains of my wingblades back into my bags. Maybe I could fix them later? "Finder this is Sapphire, one of the nice ponies you were asking about earlier."

I stared at him sternly as I dared him to do anything mean to her. "Nice to meet you." He said through grit teeth.

Sapphire began rummaging through her bag again. "I had one more thing to give you... here." She held out an extra strength restoration potion. "It cost me a small fortune but I think you deserve to have it."

I stared at it with childlike wonder. "Whoa where did you find that? I mean I've heard stories about those but I've never actually seen one before." Finder snickered behind a hoof. "Oh shut up not all of us have been traveling around the wasteland since we were born."

"I bought it off of a caravan a long time ago. Can you do me one favor though? Tell me what it tastes like, I've heard that they taste like pineapples."

I took a deep breath and drank the whole potion, taking a moment to savor the taste. I immediately felt the effects, my aching joints and muscles feeling better than before I left Desert Springs. The scratches and bruises disappeared too! I flapped my wings and laughed as they felt better than they had in weeks! 

I did a backflip into the air and soared over the townsponies below. Oh how I missed the feeling of the wind under my wings. After doing a few tricks I landed next to Sapphire and gave her another hug.

"I don't know what pineapples taste like but that tasted amazing. Thank you so much for this!" I turned to Finder and gave him a hug too for good measure. "I feel better than ever! Like I could take on a whole army of Raiders. A whole pack of hellhounds! Even-"


^                ^                ^


"I don't want to go in there!"

Finder pushed me off of him and held me away with a hoof. "This was your idea. Besides what happened to all that big talk earlier huh?"

We were standing on a hill overlooking The Crater and the surrounding ruins. Nearly every building had completely collapsed and there was nothing but rubble left in the crater itself. The whole place glowed a sickly green and to my dismay there were even a few places in the crater that still had the green fire burning. 

"I didn't say anything about feeling like I could take on a giant burning crater! It's still glowing two hundred years later! I say we go back and find this Olivine pony, maybe we can make some kind of deal."

"Oh come on you sissy where's your sense of adventure?" He passed me a few doses of Rad-X and RadAway before taking some and trotting down the hill. To certain death I'm sure.

"Probably back in Desert Springs with my common sense!" I yelled before taking one of the nasty Rad-X pills. Still tastes like chalk...

"Well why not." I flew after Finder and together we made our way into the ruined town. The outermost buildings were in much better shape than I thought they would have been. I mean don't get me wrong they were still totally destroyed, just a little less... destroyed. Don't judge me for my lack of vocabulary...

Since Finder was the one who actually had any experience with this sort of work I mostly just took him things and he told me to keep it or not. There were a lot of "not's". After searching through a couple of the houses Finder decided we weren't going to find much more than scrap electronics unless we went further into the city to the bigger houses. 

"Why do I have to carry everything anyways?" Seriously I had two full bags of scrap electronics, a bag of scrap metal, and three more that were yet to be filled.

"Well since you have no idea what anything is worth out here, all you can do to help is carry stuff so I won't get slowed down. Or do you just want to spend more time here?" He asked as he sipped down a second RadAway. 

I shook my head as I drank another one as well. "No I'd rather we get out of here as soon as we can."

He smirked before swatting me with a stick. "Good. Now onward mule!" I think I liked it more when he was too nervous around me to even say hi in the mornings without blushing…

As we continued our search I decided to ask my friend about something that was starting to bother me. “Hey Finder I’ve been wondering, what are you doing with my books? Griff said you were working on something for me.”

He looked up from under a thoroughly destroyed bookcase, a copy of Equestrian Army today “The battle saddles of the past, present, and future!” in his mouth before he dropped it into a leather bag at his hooves. “Well I figured since you’re out here helping me, I might as well try and help you too. So I’ve been doing a bunch of reading trying to figure out how your magic works.”

Oh. Well I don’t have a clue what he could find that I hadn’t already since my books barely cover the subject. “So did you figure anything out? Because I’m pretty much stuck where I am.” 

I watched in fascination as he tore apart an old broken terminal, relieving it of any parts that may still be functional. “I think so. In the training book it talks about the three kinds of magic right? Arcana for unicorns, Endura for earth ponies, and Empatha for pegasi.” 

I nodded and followed him into the next room. He flipped the light switch and surprisingly the single bulb in the ceiling flickered to life. I flew up to retrieve it as he continued.

“Okay so it doesn’t really say this exactly, but I think magic works in two ways. Actively, and passively. My dad sorta talked to me about this with unicorn magic too. He said a unicorn can focus and work really hard to learn how to do all kinds of magic, but some magic just comes kinda naturally to them. Easy stuff like levitation and their special talent comes naturally he said, and as they get older they don’t even have to think about it to do it.”

“It’s the same for a pegasus too right? I mean you use magic to help you fly. That’s why they had flight schools in old Equestria, was to help pegasi learn to fly. But you figured it out on your own eventually, without anyone to teach you how.”

I wanted to argue his definition of flying since I’ve only been able to really fly once, and that was because of the adrenaline rush you get when you’re being chased by a pack of hellhounds… “I still don’t see where you’re going with this.”

“I was just making sure you knew about the magic that’s inside everypony, not just unicorns like most think. Okay so in the soldier's training manual you have, it lists three kinds of magic?”

“I know about that already. Arcana for unicorns, Endura for earth ponies. and Empatha for pegasi.” I hopped through a broken window into the front room of what once had been a hardware store. technically we were on the inside of the building, though it no longer had a roof or a front wall.

After searching the rubble Finder shook his head and we moved on. “Guess they didn’t bother to stock the stores before they blew them up. Anyways I looked through your translator and couldn’t come up with anything that matched Empatha.”

“Well yeah I know. Hence why I’m stuck.” I pouted as we walked across the ‘street’ and into another building. This one was in much better condition, though it was still missing most of one wall.

“Jackpot!” Finder shouted as he disappeared behind a large wooden counter. Moments later he came back up hauling a mostly intact terminal, setting it on the desk. He started tapping away at it as he continued his lecture. “So I didn’t find anything that matched Empatha, but I found something that’s pretty close. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with how your magic works too.”

That was a surprise. I’ve been trying to figure this out for years and barely figured anything out. Guess that’s why he’s named Finder. “So turns out they don’t have any words that translate to our word, emotion. But Empatha comes the closest so I think it may have something to do with it.”

I walked over to watch him more closely as he tore the terminal apart piece by piece.“Emotions? But that doesn’t make any sense. All the unicorns I’ve talked to say you have to keep your mind calm and focused to do magic.” 

He smirked and smacked me on the forehead. “Not all magic works the same remember? There’s three types. Why can’t they all work differently?” After a moment of silence from me he went back to taking apart the terminal and putting the valuable pieces into one of our bags. “Have you ever thought about your emotions when you do your magic stuff? I don’t know, try getting angry or something next time. See what happens.”
We exited the remains of the old grocery store and walked across the street to an open lot across the street. I barely made it halfway across the lot before I started feeling lightheaded. "Hey Finder does radiation normally make your vision start fading?"

He seemed to have trouble focusing like I did. "No this isn't from the radiation..." He looked at a nearby sign and his eyes went wide. "Gas! Updraft we need to-" 

I had already collapsed under the weight of what we looted. I looked over at Finder with hazy eyes as he collapsed a few pony-lengths from me. Silly pony if you leave your tongue hanging out like that you'll wake up with a mouth full of dirt...


^                ^                ^


My head throbbed as my eyes were met with bright lights all around me. "Ow... Where are we?" I blinked several times to clear my vision. When the room came into focus this definitely wasn't the same place where I fell asleep.

I was laying in a pristinely clean medical bed, the surrounding room indicating some kind of hospital. This whole place was clean and white! Like never even seen dirt before super white! "Okay this is weird..."

I looked down to make sure I was still intact... Legs and hooves? Check. Wings... check. Head? I giggled at my own antics. Check, obviously. "Okay so I'm unharmed and all alone in some kind of creepy hospital room. My stuff is all gone and I have no idea where Finder is. Now what?"

The door slid into the ceiling (okay now that was pretty cool.) and in walked a green unicorn buck wearing a white jacket. I don't know what exactly but something about his appearance just seemed off...

"You know you really shouldn't talk to yourself so much, I have not even begun your mental evaluation and I am already worried."  He set a clipboard down on a table before stepping next to the bed. "Alright you can sit up slowly but don't push yourself. After the surgery I am not sure how well your body can support itself yet."

Wait...surgery? I jumped from the bed and immediately grabbed a scalpel from a tray nearby. "What do you mean surgery? Who are you? What did you do to me!?" I screamed as I stared at him.

He barely even reacted, all he did was write something on the clipboard. "Alright so your body can handle itself, good to know. Now calm down and take a seat so we can talk in a civilized manner."

He stared at me expectantly until I relented and sat back down on the bed. I kept the scalpel though just in case. "Now as for your first question, I am going to blame that on anxiety and hope you are educated enough to know what a surgery is. My name is Doctor Green Hoof, and yes I am a ghoul. I have been practicing medicine for two-hundred and thirty-five years, so yes I have a bit of practice."

"You don't look like a ghoul." I'd never seen one myself but I knew they didn't look like normal ponies.

"I will take that as a compliment and credit science for its results. As for your third question I gave you another chance at life. When I found you and your friend outside you were both unconscious, the work of the natural gas leaks in the area I presume?" He waited for me to nod before continuing.

"Typical. You were suffering from extreme radiation poisoning and by the time I got you back here to the medical bay you were basically dead already. So I did for you what I have done for so many others who tried to wander outside without the proper equipment."

I was that bad? But how could he have saved me... "You see during the war I was one of the few doctors specialized in radiation poisoning and how to cure it. However my research was held back because the ministry mare did not approve of my methods. Since the bombs fell I have had no one to tell me how to conduct my experiments, but progress has been slow due to a lack of willing subjects." 

He put this cold thing against my back and told me to take deep breaths as he continued. "Finally about a year ago I made a breakthrough with a patient, I was finally able to save a pony from the final stages of radiation sickness. However the surgery left him too weak to fight off a mild cold so he died shortly after. And now here you are, the first patient to not only be cured from such a high level of radiation without suffering permanent harm, but also strong enough to hold your own. I say the surgery was a success."

He put the weird tool back around his neck and marked a few more things on his clipboard. "However there are a few things you will need to know about the new you."

Oh no... "And what exactly does that mean?" I asked as I grit my teeth.

"Nothing too serious, but if you categorize yourself as a ghoul now you will not be entirely incorrect." 

What.

"Do not worry your body is not going to start falling apart or anything like that, but in order to cure the radiation sickness I had to... alter the way it affects your body."

He picked the clipboard up and flipped a couple of pages. "Let's see... It says radiation is likely to regenerate injuries in the patient unless it is encountered in overwhelming quantities such as a direct blast from a radiation emitting explosive. Other side effects include nausea for several hours after surgery, mild headache for several hours after surgery, an extreme allergic reaction to strawberries..."

He stopped and scratched his chin. "Strange. Anyways, a negative reaction to RadAway and Rad-X is anticipated and it is recommended that the patient avoid taking them at any time, a sterile reproductive system, an extreme dislike for pop music, a-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! What was that about being sterile?" Nonono please don't mean what I think you mean...

"Yes one of the effects I am afraid is completely unavoidable with this kind of operation is the complete sterility of the patient. Meaning the patients will never be able to have offspring. If that's a problem I am sorry but there is no taking it back."

"You- you mean I..." My eyes filled up with tears as it sank in. I never thought too much about having kids really, but the fact that no matter what I can never have them now... "Fix it."

"Pardon?" He looked up from his clipboard with almost no interest. 

"I said fix it. Do whatever you have to do to fix it I don't care."

"As I said before there are no take backs. What is done is-"

I jumped at him and held the scalpel to his neck. "Fix it! Find a way to reverse the effects or something I don't care!"

With a strong telekinetic shove he pushed me back onto the bed and took the scalpel away. "And I said it is impossible! Even if you were to somehow have kids after you took in that much radiation they would not turn out right anyways! Get over yourself, you are alive and that is all I can do for you." 

He stormed through the door and it closed behind him with a quiet hiss. I wanted to be angry at him for taking something like that from me without my permission. I wanted to storm out of here and cause as much trouble on the way that I could. In the end all I could do is curl up in a ball and cry. Cry until my eyes ran out of tears and all I could do was stare at a wall. It just wasn't fair, why me? What did I do to have that taken away from me?


^                ^                ^


The door opened and the doctor walked in, a small pink robot hovering next to him. It was round with multiple arms coming out from the bottom. To my surprise it actually spoke with a tinny female voice. "Now tell her you're sorry for being so insensitive." 

He snorted and again set a clipboard down on the table. "I will do no such thing. Maybe if she would stop being so emotional this would not. bother her so much. Now sit up I need to do one more checkup before you can leave."

I groaned and curled up even tighter. I didn't want to sit up, or to leave, or... anything really. All I wanted to do was wake up from this horrible dream.

He sighed and forced me to sit up with his magic. "Stop being so difficult. If you will cooperate then you and your friend can leave sooner and get out of my mane." He put that weird tool in his ears again and pressed the other part against my back. 

He may be able to force me to sit up but he can't make me take deep breaths! He put the tool back around his neck and took a small stick out of his coat pocket. "Now open wide and say ahh."

"Nuh-uh." I shook my head and crossed my hooves. If he wanted me to cooperate he was going to have to say sorry first.

"Just do it I have better things to do than sit here and argue with you. I don't have time for this!"

"Not until you say sorry."

He broke the stick with his magic and threw it on the ground. "Fuck it! Eve3 finish the rest of the check up I don't have the patience to deal with these children. Tie her down or use anesthetic if you have to I don't care anymore." He stormed out of the room with a scowl. It probably didn't have the effect he wanted it to since he couldn't slam the door behind him and instead it closed with a quiet hiss.

I waited a few seconds before I started laughing. Oddly enough even the weird floating robot laughed with me, in it's own creepy way. "Don't mind him he's always had quite the temper."

"Has he always acted like someone shoved a pinecone under his tail?" Yes! I've been wanting to use that line ever since I found a book about trees. 

Again the robot laughed before floating across the room and opening a cabinet. "I'm afraid so, he's always cared more about the science than the patients. That's the reason why ministry mare Fluttershy intervened and stopped quite a few of his projects before anypony got hurt."

She (it would be rude to call her an 'it' right?) hovered back to my bed holding another stick in a mechanical arm. "Now let's try this again shall we? Please open wide for the train and say ahh."

I still wasn't thrilled about having a robot shove a stick in my mouth but at least she asked nicely. I almost choked on it twice before she gave up and decided nothing was wrong. What was she even trying to see in there, my lungs?

"Okay this might hurt a little so I'm going to count to three. One, two!" I yelped as she plucked a feather out of my wing. 

"Ow! I thought you said three? And what's the big idea pulling a pony's feathers out like that huh?" I pulled my wing close and rubbed the area that she plucked the feather from. At least it wasn't one of my primaries...

"I needed to test your nervous system and your reaction to pain. My data indicates the best way to do this to a pegasus is to pluck a feather from their wing. However a footnote indicated that most pegasi have very negative reactions to this so I didn't inform you of my actions, nor did I count to three so you would have time to anticipate the pain."

Well I guess that all makes sense, but I still feel like I was wronged somehow... "Alright now for this one I just need you to sit still, even though this might tickle a little." Wait what is she doing with that feather-

I giggled as she rubbed my feather over my sides. "Hey cut it out! Come on that tickles!" She seemed to enjoy making me suffer until I was finally able to rip the feather from her grasp. Tickling a pony with her own feather, that's just messed up.

"Your nervous system seems to be in good health and completely unaffected by the surgery. Congratulations you are in good and stable health. Now I must recommend that you take it easy for a day at least and as always be sure to eat healthy and get proper exercise."

"Wait so I can go now?" Well that was easy.

"Not exactly. But you do get a prize for being such a good filly so far!"

"Hey I'm not a- lollipop!" Don't judge me, she can call me a filly all day as long as she keeps giving me sugary deliciousness. "What else do I have to do?"

I followed the pink robot to the door and she opened it with a touch of a button, leading me out into a large circular room that was just as clean as my hospital room. In all directions other rooms similar to mine branched out from the 'rest atrium'. I followed her through another door and into a huge hallway. 

In the hallway I saw several open doors that led to other circular rooms. This place is huge! "Excuse me Eve3?" 

The pink robot spun around in the air. "Yes dear?"

Okay that was really creepy with that synthetic voice... "What is this place? I don't remember seeing a building this big when we were walking around outside."

"That's because this isn't a building. This is a Stable! The first built actually, it was designed to test out varying features and how well they would work full-scale. There are many features within this stable that won't be found in the others, and visa-versa."

"One such feature is the extensive medical and science bay. All Stables built after this one with two exceptions were built much smaller and therefore didn't need such a large medical center. Another feature of this Stable is the A.I. that helps runs the systems. This A.I. runs diagnostics on all Stable systems and helps the staff to troubleshoot problems. However the A.I. isn't nearly capable of running the Stable himself, that would require an enormous computer such as a Crusader Maneframe which my database says only Stable 32 was given."

We continued walking as I pretended to understand half of what she was talking about. "The most important role that Arty, that's just what we call him, has done in these past years is keep the intruders outside." 

"Intruders? You mean there are ponies outside who know about what's in here?"

"Oh yes, anyone with access to a Stable-Tec database could find out what all is in here. Unfortunately that includes a group calling themselves the Steel Rangers. According to my database they are a religious group seeking to preserve as much wartime technology as they can."

Religious group? I don't think I'd call them that but some of them are definitely fanatical if what Finder told me was true. "How has Arty been keeping them out?" We finally reached the end of the hallway and turned left... Into another massive hallway. Great.

"Well first they tried to cut their way through the door. But after they remembered that this was the door that withstood a Balefire blast literally feet away they gave up on that stupid plan. Since then they've been trying to hack their way into the system to open the door remotely. Arty's been working non-stop to constantly change all of the sixty five digit access codes every .246 seconds."

I stopped to think about that. "That's fast isn't it?" 

Eve3 laughed with that tinny voice and sent another shiver down my spine. "Honey Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle and her top scientists could even think of that many numbers that fast, much less guess the correct ones in the proper order to gain access to the Stable systems."

Wow okay then smart A.I. is smart. "But isn't that just overkill then?"

"It has actually just barely kept us out of harm's way. The Rangers are very tenacious. They designed an automated program that runs algorithms to guess the number sequences with a 67.7723% accuracy rate. Meaning out of the sixty five digits they on average can get forty six of the correct numbers every time, and that number has only gone up in the last months. If I had to guess the hacking machine is fitted with a similar A.I. capable of learning Arty's patterns, and very quickly at that."

We continued through the maze of huge hallways and I decided they had to have had pegasi in mind when they made this place. Why else would they have made the hallways so tall? I started flying to keep my mind off of the boredom setting in. All the walls and rooms looked the same! They really could use some color besides grey in here...

"Fortunately the Rangers can't stay outside long enough to try and brute force hack the door open. They can't stay in that high concentration of radiation long enough."

"Just how bad is the radiation out there anyways? The doctor said I almost died from it."

"Stable sensors indicate radiation levels exceeding lethal amounts by 372% outside the door. And yes you and your friend were both very lucky to have survived. For some reason he seemed to be far less affected by the radiation than you did, the doctor is doing tests on his blood at the moment to see if there are any abnormalities."

"He's doing what to Finder? Where is he!?" Oh no you're not going to make my friend sterile too you creep.

"Well your friend is currently sitting in detention with Ad4m for trying to sneak around the Stable unsupervised. The doctor is currently in the science lab which we passed on our way here." By here she meant a massive room full of toys that would make Finder feint. 

The sign over the door read Pipbuck Technician's Workshop and sweet Celestia was that an understatement. There were shelves loaded with Pipbucks and cabinets full of tools that do who knows what. The entire place was like a scavenger's wet dream. And here I was having no clue what any of this was actually worth. 

"So why are we here exactly? What does this place have to do with my surgery?"

She floated to one of the cabinets and grabbed several tools with her mechanical arms before moving to one of the worktables. "The doctor needs to monitor your health over a much longer span of time than just a night to see the lasting effects of the surgery. It is also a well known fact that Pipbucks come with a very intricate and accurate health monitoring system."

"They do? Uhh I mean yeah everypony knows that..." Smooth.

"So in order to monitor your health for at least two months the doctor decided to give you a Pipbuck since we have so many extras laying around."

How generous of him. "And what if I don't want it?" I really didn't care for the looks, and wasn't looking forward to carrying around more dead weight.

Eve3 turned around and I could have sworn she canted in the air. "But these things are incredible! They have an Eyes Forward Sparkle, inventory sorter, Sparkle Automated Targeting System, health monitoring, radio and time options, auto mapping, and a whole bunch of customization options! This is like the greatest piece of technology ever made. Well except for me of course but that's besides the point." And there goes that creepy laugh again.

"Okay I don't know what any of that means so you might as well start from the top if you want me to wear that thing." I just don't see how a fancy clothing accessory can make that much of a difference.

"Oh you have no idea, let's start with the E.F.S."



^                ^                ^



So after she finished attaching the Pipbuck to my leg, a dozen lights flashed across my vision. I swatted at them for a moment until Eve3 told me to stop.This was going to take some getting used to... "Do you think you can give one to Finder too? It would make me feel a lot better about this whole trip if I wasn't the only pony getting cool stuff."

"I'm afraid not, Arty will already be upset that the doctor is giving you one. Sometimes he seems to forget who is in charge here."

"But if he's not in charge then who is?" I thought he was the only pony here. Maybe there are more crazy scientist doctors around here?

"Well actually Arty is since he's the only one with Stable-Tec clearance. But we like to let the doctor pretend he's in charge to make him feel more at home."

"So wait an A.I. is the one in charge around here? Is there any way I can talk to him then? I'd like to ask him a few questions." Starting with the medical staff and their lack of medical waivers before surgeries...

"I'm afraid not. Arty is very limited in what he can do for the Stable unlike a Crusader Maneframe or even most other A.I. He can only operate one system at a time and it requires his full attention. If he were to stop to talk with anyone right now the Rangers would get full access to the security systems in seconds."

We left the workroom and continued down the hall. My Pipbuck beeped and alerted me that we had entered the Vault 00 maintenance wing. 
At my questioning look Eve3 explained, " Apparently when Stable Tec was getting their start they weren't sure what to call the stables. They decided against using the name 'Vaults' because it sounded too much like pony storage rather than a place for them to live out their lives happily." Well that wasn't what I was going to ask but that did answer a different question.

As we flew for a few more minutes I noticed a pair of green bars appear on the E.F.S. "Hey Eve3 green bars are friendly, red bars are bad right?"

"Not exactly, red bars are bad, green bars are non-hostile. This does not mean that they might not become hostile in the near future. Simply that it is unlikely that they will be hostile towards you. The Eyes Forward Sparkle has been known to discern hostile from non-hostile with a 99.83% accuracy, which surpassed all expectations prior to testing."

"You're just full of facts aren't you?" 

"Well that's my job here in the Stable. I log and categorize as much data as possible for future review in order to help Stable Personnel make more informed decisions. Think of me as a portable library."

Oh think you’re smart stuff huh? "Alright then what were the names of Commander Hurricane's two children?" 

"My data shows contradicting information but I can give you the answer, Typhoon and Cyclone, with 88.2% accuracy."

Curses! Alright you win this time... We flew in silence until we reached the Security Wing of the stable. Oh I just have to ask... "Hey Eve3 is there any chance I can look around in the armory?" The massive armored door had two turrets hanging from the ceiling to guard the entrance.

"I'm afraid I don't have access to the armory. Arty probably wouldn't you looking around but he's too busy at the moment." My Pipbuck beeped and the screen flashed a new entry. 'Sidequest added, Help Arty With the Steel Ranger Hackers'. Oh I like my new toy.

"Eve3! You gotta help me he won't listen to reason!" Yeah that sounds like something Finder does.

A blue robot similar to Eve3 hovered around a corner and grabbed her with it's (his!) arms. This one was much bigger than Eve3 and it's deep voice sounded much more natural.

"Ad4m what's the problem now? Why can't you keep a single pony locked up in detention?"

"It's impossible he keeps escaping! The first time he took the bed apart and used parts of it to take the door completely off it's hinges! I took the bed away and left him with just the sheets, but he managed to make a rope, pull himself up to the air vent, do who knows what to get that open, and I spent hours trying to find him and get him back here. It's only a matter of time before he does something else crazy you have to help me!"

"Come along miss it appears your friend is causing quite a ruckus without you." I laughed as I imagined Finder climbing a rope made from bedsheets to get to an air vent.

We rounded the corner into a small hallway and I had to duck to avoid a small laminate floor tile soaring through the air. It crashed into the wall behind me and hit a small button labeled 'door release' before falling to a pile of similar tiles. 

Finder jumped through one of the now open cell doors with a cheer. "Aha! I told you I'd get out again! Don't worry Updraft I'm coming to resc- Oh hey Updraft what's up?"

Oh don't even try to play it cool now. "Rescue me? And who says I can't rescue myself huh?"

"I knew you'd get out on your own, but you probably did it by talking and a bunch of other boring stuff." Well I can't argue against that point. "So what's the deal we getting out of here or what? My mane's really starting to itch from all this radiation."

"I thought the Stables were built to keep that kind of stuff on the outside?" Again Eve3 had the answer.

"As I said this was the first Stable actually built, a prototype of sorts. The structure of the Stable was fully able of withstanding the blast of the Balefire Bomb but they weren't sure of the capabilities of the magical radiation. My data shows that after detonation radiation levels within the Stable exceeded lethal limits by 110%, and on the day of the sealing it was at 62% in the lower levels."

Well that explains why they never used this Stable, with that much radiation the only way anypony could live in here is if they wore a radsuit all day every day. "What about now?"

"In the upper levels the radiation has dropped to 5%, well within the bounds of safety provided you don't mind a drastically shortened lifespan. We are currently in the security wing which is on the second level and is at 15%. The maintenance level has stayed at 34% due to the reactor malfunctioning in recent years." 

Fifteen percent? I think that's more than what we dealt with in Las Pegasus, why don't I even feel it?

"Oh yeah Updraft that's right the creepy doctor guy said you were like immune to radiation or something now! That's so cool!" Oh right that's why I don't feel it. And now I want to crawl up into a ball and cry again... "Hey are you alright? He didn't do anything else to you right?"

I can't tell him everything else, he did to me.. If he finds out about what all that surgery did to me he'll tear this place apart looking for doctor Green Hoof. "Well he also gave me this pretty sweet Pipbuck."

"No way let me see!" I almost fell on my face as he yanked my leg away. "Lucky, I've always wanted one of these but my dad wouldn't let me keep any of the ones we found. Said they're too valuable so we had to sell them."

"Sorry I asked but they won't give another one away. The only reason I got one is so the doctor can 'monitor my health', whatever that means."

Now that Finder and I were back together, we decided it was time to blow this popsicle stand. Ad4m and Eve3 led the way until we reached a massive door far bigger than the vault door in The Black 9.

Eve3 floated to a control panel and typed away at a terminal for nearly a minute. Finally a bunch of loud sirens started going off as Finder and I covered our ears. I could barely hear Ad4m talking right behind us.

"Now when the door is open you're going to have to move fast if you want to get out of here alive. There will be a staircase to your left, don't take that it's a deathtrap. Keep running down the tunnel until you see an old skywagon. Right after you pass that there will be a hole you can run through to get to the surface."

Eve3 flew next to me as Finder began taking Rad-X and RadAway. "Remember to wash behind your ears and always drink lots of water while you're out in the sun. Oh and don't talk to strangers." 

A massive arm swung down from the ceiling and the noise drowned out whatever else she was trying to say. It screwed into the door and with a groan the door pulled inwards before rolling to the side.. Huh, what a strange way to open a door.

We sprinted into the dark tunnel while Eve3 shouted something behind us about writing letters. I barely even noticed the radiation but Finder already looked like he was about to collapse. I threw him over my back and took to the air, soaring past the staircase while looking for a skywagon.

Why did ponies have to build such big tunnels! I could hear Finder's choked coughs behind me. I panicked and almost missed the wagon, but pulling off a hairpin turn I managed to make it through the hole. 

As soon as we were outside We were thrown to the ground by the extreme winds. The sandstorm was right on top of us and I had to shield my eyes from the dirt. Sliding Finder over my back I did my best to navigate away from the center of town. We made it to the smaller houses on the outskirts of town and I decided that was far enough. 

There was still some radiation this far out but Finder was just going to have to deal with it. No way we would make it much farther out there in that storm. I forced the door open to one of the houses and closed it behind me. "Hey... Updraft?"

Goddesses he sounded miserable. "Yeah?" I gently set him down on an old sofa. He immediately leaned over the back and vomited. Oh he's really not in good shape. I passed him half of my radiation supplies and he quickly downed another RadAway. 

"Howcome you're glowing?" I was wondering why I could see in here so clearly... Wait a minute he didn't say anything about me lighting up like a glowstick! 

I sighed and walked to the door. "I'm sure it's just the radiation. I probably shouldn't be in the same room as you right now... or building for that matter.”

"Oh okay..." He sounded terrible, I can't help but feel like it's partially my fault. If I had been a little faster, or smarter, or... something then maybe he wouldn't be this bad. "Where are you going then?"

"I'll be just outside if you need me." With a smile I fought the wind to open and close the door again. I wish Sandy were here, she always remembered to pack an extra pair of goggles in case a sandstorm hit. I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out an old leather coat that I bought a while back.

Pulling it around me tightly I sat by the door for nearly an hour before I decided to check up on Finder. Looking through one of the dirty windows I could barely make out his sleeping form on the sofa. Good sleep is probably just what he needs. 

I flicked my ears as I heard something on the wind. Gunshots, and a lot of them. At least the storm is starting to die down, I could already see for several blocks. I wandered about a hundred feet north of town before I heard shouting. I couldn't make out what they were saying but they definitely sounded like they were in trouble. I waited until they got close enough to hear me. 

"Don't shoot I'm friendly! Follow me!" I slowly made my way back to town and led them to the first intact house I saw hoping it wasn't the same one Finder was in. I looked behind me to see if they were following me, and to my surprise they were Steel Rangers! One of them was in the same fancy armor I'd seen before with a minigun perched on each shoulder, but the other one was wearing some kind of robe. 

I pushed the door open and motioned for them to go in first. The robed pony obliged but the other one stayed behind to see if we were followed. The orange unicorn collapsed in a puddle of blood and I rushed to her side. 

She dug through her bag and levitated out a healing potion, downing it in one go. I dug through my bag and gave her another. "One won't be enough, drink this one too. Come on let's get you off the floor, no sense lying here in your own blood." After she finished the second potion I helped her walk to an old chair in the corner. One nice thing about the desert, the dry climate keeps old furniture from getting too gross.

 "Get away from her you freak!" I laid the mare down and turned to face the steel ranger approaching from the doorway. He threw me aside like unwanted litter and stood between me and the injured pony. "I don't know what the fuck you are but you better leave now before I change my mind and decide to turn you into paste all over that wall!" I heard his two miniguns click and reload. 

Wow protective much? "And stay out there until the ponies chasing you find me?  I won't give you any trouble, just put those guns away and I'll stay all the way over here. By the way you two might want to take some RadAway soon this place has some pretty bad radiation. I should still have some if you need it."

"I don't give a fuck about radiation. Look you can either take your chances out there, or you can stay in here and die for sure. Make the smarter choice so I won't have to waste any more bullets."

"Leave her alone Leek. She saved us once already and now she's offering to share valuable supplies. If you do anything to hurt her then I'll never forgive you." She was having no trouble bandaging the bullet wound in her leg. I had a feeling it was something she's done many times before.

"Honey you can't be serious! Look at that thing it's glowing green!" Oh great, another bickering married couple...

"Hey I am not a thing! I'm a pony just like you." I stopped and thought about that for a second. "Okay maybe not just like you, but just because I'm a glowing radioactive pegasus doesn't mean I'm any less pony than you."

"Shut up this is a private conversation, it's none of your business." He turned his back on me to face his wife. That was just dismissive.

"Of course it's my business you're discussing whether or not to turn me into pony paint! Don't I at least get an opinion?" 

"Not one that matters now shut up!"

"I like her, can we keep her?" The mare giggled while he pressed a hoof to the visor in his helmet.

The buck groaned and trotted to the door. "I can't deal with this right now. Stay and rest until this storm blows over. And you!” He pointed a hoof at me accusingly, causing me to take a step back. “You stay right where you are. If I come back in here and see you any closer to my wife you'll find out what it feel like to have your head filled with more holes than a vegetable strainer." His miniguns retracted into his armor as he stepped outside into the howling wind and closed the door behind him.

I sat still and turned to the mare laying on the chair. "What's a vegetable strainer?"

She broke out laughing and nearly fell on the floor. "I was about to ask the same thing. Name's Sunrise, like the sarsaparilla."

I walked over and shook her hoof. What? We've already established I'm terrible at following directions... "Updraft, nice to meet you."

"So... glowing radioactive pegasus?" 

I laughed and stuffed my leather coat back in my bag. "The glowing radioactive part is a new development. Long story short Some crazy ghoul doctor did some kind of weird surgery to save my life, and now I'm basically a ghoul too."

"That's pretty awesome. That reminds me of the time I went to Hoofington to deliver a package to the Steel Rangers there, that place is full of augmented ponies and stuff. You should go sometime, it's not so bad if you don't mind the rain."

"Really? I heard that place is a deathtrap, that once you go it's super hard to leave again." I walked back across the room and sat on the floor in case grumpy-hooves came back.

"Yeah I guess, but what place isn't a deathtrap in the wasteland?" We both shared laughs as I pulled out my broken wingblades. Several of the scales were missing, and I only had about half of the pins left. At least the leather bindings were still in good shape... "What are those for?"

"They're wingblades. Well they used to be before somepony stole them and broke them to bits. I'm gonna try to put them back together but I'll need some good quality scrap metal and a lot of time."

"Will this do?" She levitated a small pile of metal over to me. It all looked in pretty good condition, some of it was even still shiny! 

"Yeah that's perfect! How much?"

"One RadAway please." I pulled one of my three RadAways out and she levitated it to herself and started sipping on the orange grossness. Well at least I'll never have to drink that stuff or take Rad-X ever again...

"So what do you use those for?" She asked as she flicked some strands of her red mane out of her eyes. I envied her for having such an inconvenience.

I started sorting the scrap into piles based on what I could use it for. Digging through my bags I pulled out a small wooden box full of metal files and other tools.

"When I have to, I use them to fight with. But usually I just use my knives." I started filing down some of the smaller pieces of metal to use them for the new pins.

"Wait you use nothing but blades to fight with? Why not use guns they're way easier and safer. Plus you don't have to get right next to a pony to kill them. Knives and melee weapons are like what you use when you can't use a gun, not just because you don't want to..."

I shrugged and kept working. "I've just always liked a good knife more than any guns. Plus I've never shot one before so I doubt I'd be more safe with one." She looked at me like I was a ghost or something.

"You mean you've never used a gun before? How have you survived this long!?"

I thought about the raiders and slavers I fought and The Black 9... Las Pegasus and the fight with the hellhounds... "I ask myself that same question every day, but here I am." I shrugged and went back to my work.

She rolled over in the chair to face the wall. "Well you do that, I'm going to get some much needed sleep. Do keep it down will you?"

I finished making the pins, thirteen in total. After some work I also managed to salvage three of the damaged scales, meaning I only needed three more. Luckily the two featherknives at the end of each wingblade were untouched so I didn't have to replace those.

After about an hour the Steel Ranger buck came back inside. He didn't say anything as he walked across the room and sat next to his wife. I pretended to not notice him occasionally watching me as I shaped and sharpened the new scales from the scrap. 

After about another hour I stood up to examine my work. It was always a pain to reattach all the scales since they all overlapped, but I've had plenty of practice taking these things apart and putting them back together.

After oiling the entire assembly I put all my tools away and strapped the blades on my wings. They fit as snug as a hug in winter and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at my reflection in a dusty old mirror.

"So you really use those pieces of crap?" I heard the buck snickering behind me.

"I'm just going to pretend you meant to say scrap and say yes. Not all of us have the privilege of wearing invincible armor with ridiculous firepower." I walked back to my corner and slung my bag over my back and securing it tightly. About time for me to go check up on Finder again.

"This armor isn't invincible, sometimes I think it's more trouble than it's worth out here. Do you have any idea how much sand get's in all these joints? This suit is even made to protect the wearer from minor radiation how the hell does sand even get in here?!"

"First world problems, go complain about it to all your rich friends." I pushed the door open and took a step outside. The wind was barely a breeze by now as I looked around to get my bearings. Let's see, according to my Pipbuck Finder should be in a house two hundred meters in front of me behind that mob of armed, angry looking ponies....

What.

I rushed back inside and slammed the door behind me for what little protection it could give. I tried to steady my breathing as I pressed my back against the door. Meanwhile the Ranger was sitting near his wife snickering. 

"What happened, you see a Radroach and get scared?" 

"You didn't happen to have a whole bunch of really nice ponies following you with guns that only want to give out free hugs did you?" A bullet blew threw the door a foot away from my head as I yelped and laid on the floor with my hooves on my head. My ears! That was just mean why would you do that to a pony?

"Alright we know you're in there, come on out!"


^                ^                ^


No Level Up.
> Chapter 10 - Wayward Souls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on out or we'll come in there and get you!"

"I'd like to see you try Brahmin-breath!" Sunrise ducked under a window after hurling her insult at the group outside. "Who the buck are these guys anyways?"

I peeked around the window corner. Certainly didn't look like any ponies I knew, they just looked like a bunch of raiders. In the very back I recognized a brown earth pony. He was one of the drunk gangers that was harassing Lily the day I left Desert Springs. Sure enough I saw him turn and he had a red string tied around his tail.

"Well screw me with a cactus. Look they're after me, you two just stay here and I'll deal with this." I walked to the door but Sunrise cut me off. 

"No way we're gonna let you take on those losers by yourself, right Leek?"

He stared at her through his helmet and I wish I could have seen his expression behind that visor. "Are you crazy? This is none of our business let's just let her deal with her own problems. Probably deserves what's coming to her anyways." That was just uncalled for, he didn't even know me!

She looked at him pleadingly. "Come on, what would Elder Steelhooves do? We promised we would be better, like all the posters say. That's why we left the order in the first place remember?"

He stood motionless for several moments before sighing and walking to the door. "Alright fine, but you stay safe alright? I'm the one in the big scary power armor so they'll focus on me. Stay behind cover and stay as far away from me as you can, just like last time."

She nodded and dug a pistol out of her bag. "Got it. What about you?" She looked at me as she lined up behind her armored companion. 

"Me? I'll just do what I normally do. Something completely irrational that get's me hurt." I said with a wink as I opened the door and stepped outside. 

The wind was nothing more than a gentle breeze by now as the sun sat high in the sky. Well I couldn't actually see it of course, but you can always barely see where some of the clouds are brighter than others and I was taught that's where the sun was. Looking across the empty pre-war street I could count almost two dozen low life's they sent to get me. 

In the back I saw the brown pony watching me with a scowl. This must be some kind of personal victory for him... "We finally found you bitch. Come quietly and I just might let you get back to the Baron in one piece like he wanted. If not... hehe, more fun for me." 

"Fuck off sicko nopony wants to hear you talk anyways." Sunrise shouted from behind Leek as she edged closer to a partially collapsed wall to our right. 

I adopted a defensive stance as the buck started laughing. No way I can take on that many guns at once, but if I can manage to split them up and take them on one at a time I just might make it through this...

"You really are stupid aren't you? You think even with your new friend there you actually stand a chance against all of us?" To accent his point several more ponies emerged from some of the nearby houses and buildings, many carrying some heavy weaponry. 

"Even in that armor of yours you can't take this much firepower, so why not just give up?"

Leek stood his ground as the two miniguns started spinning over his shoulders. "You doubt the legacy of the Ministry of Wartime Technology?"

Several of the gangers stepped aside as a huge pony walked through the crowd. Okay he wasn't nearly as big as Boxer, but still he was a giant compared to me.

When I saw what he was carrying on his back my heart stopped. He dumped the bloody body of Finder onto the dirt at his hooves with a frown. "Every time I kicked this filly it said some pegasus was gonna come kick my ass for it. I kept kicking him but you never came, so I brought him to you."

My whole world slowed to a crawl. He was covered in blood, patches of his coat and mane were even missing. Goddesses he was barely even breathing! As if the radiation wasn't hurting him enough!

Oh I was angry. I've never seen red like that before. I spread my wings and poised to strike as I watched him with hatred. I hated seeing pony's hurt and it was so much worse if I was the one who hurt them. But this? I can make an exception. Even though I know I'll feel bad about it for a long time, somepony hurt my friend. And I was going to make them pay for that.

The pony grinned and injected some kind of drug into his leg. But I noticed the other raiders started to back off. "You wanted to find me? Well here I am, regretting that decision yet?"

He just laughed maniacally as he strapped a spiked helmet on his head. "Now this is what I'm talking about, this is a real fight!" He grinned and kicked Finder aside casually before charging at me. 

I barely noticed Leek backing away from me, and the other raiders all hiding behind a wall as they watched the scene. All I cared about right now was that Finder was badly hurt. And I was going to hurt the pony that did it to him. 

I charged and met the crazy buck halfway. He ducked and tried to ram into me but I easily jumped over him, raking his back with cuts from a wingblade as I passed. He barely seemed to notice and with faster reflexes than I expected he kicked backwards and sent me flying through the air. I rolled several times when I hit the ground but I managed to get to my hooves before he was on me again.

He  threw a flurry of hoofstrikes at me, all of which were easily dodged. I landed counter strikes when I could but he just didn't seem to care no matter how many times I cut him. Whatever drugs he took allowed him to completely ignore the pain, and even worse his injuries were healing as fast as I could cause them. 

One of his strikes connected with my shoulder and it was followed by two more to my face. This time he didn't press his advantage, and instead decided to mock me."From the rumors I was led to believe you were some kind of badass. What a let down."

I spit up some blood as I got to my hooves. "Don't worry honey I'm just getting started." About time I went on the offensive. I grabbed my knife from its sheath tied around my leg and lunged at him. He ducked and tried to kick one of my legs out. Too slow, I jumped into the air and brought a wingblade down on his head.

His helmet did it's job and deflected it, but he stood up noticeably slower and more disoriented. I lunged at him again but this time he didn't bother dodging. My knife stuck deep into his chest but he wrapped a hoof around my neck and shove me to the ground. With a kick he sent me rolling away as he ripped the knife from his chest with a grin. 

I looked on with horror as the wound began closing in front of me, even the pool of blood at his hooves didn't seem to bother him. "What's the matter, never fought an Iron Pony before? Well I don't blame you few have and lived to talk about it."

I heard Sunrise shouting from somewhere behind me. "Updraft that guy is on some potent drugs! Only way you're gonna kill him is if you cut his head off or something!" Great, I knew combat drugs could be powerful but this was just ridiculous.

"Your friend is right. You thought Hydra and Rage were a potent mix? Try adding restoration potions, Rad-X, and a whole cocktail of other drugs. Not even your little armored friend there could take down a pony when they're riding out this shit."

"You're lucky I wasn't allowed to operate explosive weapons or else I already would have blown your ass above the cloud layer!"

He laughed as I once again took an aggressive stance. "Keep telling yourself that buddy. So you give up yet birdie?" 

I charged him and ducked harmlessly under his strike. Grabbing my bloody knife in my mouth (ew...) I brought it up and slashed it across his neck. Blood went everywhere but I still had to roll away to evade his counterattacks. He charged after me despite the blood flowing down his neck, throwing swings and punches wildly as I dodged for my life. 

I was so focused on his hooves I never even noticed the headbut coming at my shoulder. The spikes dug in deep, and with a shove he sent me rolling on the ground once again. This time he pressed the advantage and chased after me. I got to my hooves and tried to block his swing. Very big mistake.

The sheer force behind that punch nearly sent me off my hooves, and the second one impacted my chest as I tried to recover. Pain erupted all over as I struggled to breath, but he didn't let up. He threw a third and fourth punch into my chest, all so fast they landed before I even hit the ground.

"Hold on we're coming!" I vaguely heard Sunrise shouting as gunfire erupted around me. The whole world exploded into violence as the gangers returned fire on Sunrise. Then all other noise fell away as Leek opened up a can of murder with his miniguns, shredding the ganger's cover.

The 'Iron Pony' leaned down and whispered in my ear as I fought to catch my breath. "Well it's been fun but looks like our fight's over. Shame too, I really wanted you to live. But it's not like those idiots will probably be alive to pay me after this anyways."

He stood up and poised to bring a hoof down on my head. Not. Today.

I rolled to the side and slashed at his hoof with a wingblade, causing him to stumble away from me. "I will not-" I charged and jumped over him, bringing my wingblade down on one of his hindlegs to cripple him. "let you hurt anypony-" I jumped again and slashed at his neck just under the helmet. "ever again!"

When I landed and turned back to him, I couldn't believe what I saw. He was covered in fire, rolling around on the ground trying to put it out. All my anger was forgotten as I watched the pony burn to death in front of me. Even the firefight stopped as they all stared. 

I looked at my wings to see the same fire slowly fading from them. I... did that? Oh goddesses I just set a pony on fire. He stopped thrashing on the ground as he stared up at me. His body was healing almost as fast as the fire consumed it, but the pain must have been unimaginable.

"Everything burns..." He let out a pained, crazed laugh. "Please... Kill me. Make it... stop..." I sat there motionless for only a second before grabbing my knife and walking over to him. He was still covered in fire but it... didn't burn me at all. It barely even felt warm. 

"What is your name?" I asked as I sat next to him. 

"Before I joined... the Iron Ponies... I was named Big Guns." 

"I'll remember you." And with that I gave in to his request. I doubt even the best medical ponies could have saved him at this point, the smell of burning hair filling the air.

Most of the raiders were already dead or turned tail and left. But a few still remained as they looked on with unease. "What are you?" I heard one of them shout. 

"She's a freak! Some kind of monster from the Everfree!"

"I ain't getting paid enough to deal with this shit I'm out!" One by one they all left, even the brown buck who looked at me with a lot more fear than he had before. 

We won the fight without any of us really getting hurt, so why do I feel so terrible? I sat down and stared at the body of Big Guns, the fire starting to fade. 

"Updraft? Dear we need to go, we don't have the supplies to help your friend." I barely heard the voice of Sunrise, but my attention was still fixed on the body. I did this. I burned a pony alive. 

"It was you or him alright? Self defense. Come on soldier up, your friend needs you now." Leek put a hoof on my shoulder. I nodded and wiped away a tear. Getting up I trotted over to where Sunrise was bandaging Finder as best as she could.

I pulled out another RadAway but Sunrise shook her head. "Won't do any good, better to wait and let a doctor look at him."

I nodded and leaned down to speak gently into his ear. "Hey Finder how are you holding up?"

He couldn't open his eyes on account of his face being covered in blood, but he let out a quiet, pained laugh. "I'm not."

"Don't worry we'll get you back into town and get you fixed up alright? Just hang in there." The look on Sunrise's face told me we need to hurry.

"Okay here's the plan. I can fly him back to Nowhere by myself, but you two will have to walk. From here just keep the sun to your left and stay to the right of those big hills and you should find it."

Leek finished looting the bodies and stood next to Sunrise. "Actually we won't be doing anymore traveling by day. Maybe you ponies are used to this heat but we aren't from around here. Plus it's safer that way anyways." 

I thoroughly disagreed about the safety of traveling at night, but I didn't have time to argue. I gently slid Finder on my back for the second time today. "Alright then keep the moon on your left then. Just be careful when you get there, some of the ponies aren't as welcoming as others."

He nodded as I gently took off from the ground, kicking dust up as I fought to keep that falling feeling in the back of my mind. Finder was counting on me I couldn't afford to be weak right now. The short flight felt like an eternity, but I finally could make out the small mining town built at the bottom of a mountain.

I landed less than gracefully in the street, earning a few colorful words from some nearby town ponies. I didn't have time for an explanation as I rushed in the bar and past a very confused griffon.

"Hello and welcome to the- Updraft what happened to your mane?" Onyx looked appalled but I didn't answer.

"I'm fine but Finder needs your help!" 

She craned her neck to see his bleeding form on my back. "Right bring him back here, set him on the table. Gently!" After fetching some water and a few medical supplies she ushered me out of the room. As I sat in her waiting room I couldn't help but cry a little. I really hoped he was going to be okay.

Maybe I was crying more than a little... I buried my face in my hooves out of embarrassment as much as anything. I heard the sound of clicking talons before Griff sat on the floor next to me.

"He's going to be fine, you did everything you could to get him here." He patted me on the back before I heard the familiar sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle.

"But what if it wasn't enough?" I looked up at him and tried to wipe the tears out of my eyes. "What if my best wasn't good enough?"

He took a long drink of his whiskey. "Well your best was enough to save me right? Then I'm sure it was enough for him too." He offered me a drink, but I declined.

I was going to point out that Raze was in the middle of killing us all when I blacked out, but the black unicorn trudged through the door from the medical room.

"I need a drink." Was all she said before telekinetically pulling the bottle away from the griffon. After sating her thirst she passed it back and turned to me. 

"He's going to be fine." I was already thanking and hugging her before she had time to react. "Hey come on now, get off will ya?" After I let go and she regained her composure, she continued. "He's most likely going to get away from this one without any permanent harm, but he is in a serious need for some rest. At least a week, maybe more."

Oh he won't like that one bit. "Can I see him?"

She shrugged. "Sure, he's out cold though. He'd be in much better condition if he didn't have radiation sickness on top of it all." I thanked her again and trotted to the room Finder was in. He was laying on the same bed I was before, covered in sweat and breathing shallowly. Goddesses he looked so weak, I hated seeing my friend like this knowing there was nothing I could do about it.

Onyx trotted in behind me levitating a water bucket and a rag. "He's really not in very good shape. You probably shouldn't be here dear."

"I don't have anywhere else to go..." I whispered as I rested my head on his bedside.

She sighed and set the bucket on the floor next to me. "You two were out there trying to raise money right?" 

I slapped my face with a hoof. I totally forgot! "Okay maybe I do have something I'm supposed to be doing. But... I don't want to just leave him here, what if he wakes up?"

" I swear you two were cut from the same cloth... Then he'll wake up in a hospital bed in a safe town and you can see him when you get back. Now go on, shoo. No point in sitting here and sulking." She pushed me until I got my own legs moving.

"Alright I'm going no need to get all pushy." I pouted as I walked to the door. Glancing over my shoulder one more time at Finder I left the room with a sigh. 

Griff was leaning against the wall near the door standing on his back legs in that weird way griffons do. "So what's the plan?" 

"I'm going to go back there and bring back all the stuff we scavenged to sell for the orphanage. I kinda forgot about it before." 

He nodded his head. "Figured as much. Well I'm coming with you. With your record you'll run into a pack of manticores on your way there and a hundred raiders on the way back." He pointed a talon at the shotgun slung over his shoulder. "You'll need the help."

I was afraid of this... "Actually, I think it would be better if you stay here. Not that I doubt your skill or anything, but I was planning to fly there, and well..." 

He looked at his injured wing and grimaced. "Okay yeah, until my crew gets here I'm grounded thanks to that hellhound. But what about on the way back? Think you can fly with that much weight? You look pretty exhausted."

I didn't need his help pointing out how tired I felt after this morning. But I needed something to do to keep my mind off of Finder, and I made a promise to Quick. "I'm not going to. There's a few friendly ponies there that will be walking here at sunset, I'll just stay with them."

He raised an eyebrow. "Crossing the desert at night? I shouldn't need to remind you that's a pretty risky trip. Sure you can take it?"

I nodded confidently. "We'll manage. But thanks for asking." And with that I left the hospital before he could come up with another good reason why it would be smart to let him come with me. In reality I was just scared of him finding out how terrible of a flyer I was.

 He was a super cool griffon merc who soared in the skies and outgunned his opponents before they even knew he was there. A real predator. And I was just... me. A pitiful excuse for a pegasus still learning how to properly preen her wings.

After waving to Beryl who was trying to win a staring contest with Geode, I trotted out the door and into the midday wasteland. I lazily flew a few pony lengths above the ground until I was out of sight. I landed with a less than graceful thud and kicked at the ground with a hoof. I was really not looking forward to getting there.

I walked slowly, taking a much longer route than when Finder and I had come before. With my Pipbuck I wasn't worried about getting lost.

Eventually my (thankfully peaceful) journey ended with the sight of the crater town filling my vision. As I walked around it's outer structures each detail of this morning was flashing through my head. 

Of how courageous the two Rangers were, standing up to so many ponies just for my sake. About the uncaring look when Big Guns dropped Finder at his hooves. The sound of screaming and the smell of burning hair when I-

I sat down and shook my head. "Keep it together Updraft, you can fall apart after you help the kids. And I really should stop talking to myself, it only makes me..." I stopped mid sentence and smacked my forehead with a hoof. Okay brain you can just shut up now.

Moving on, I arrived at the site of this morning's fight. Nearly a dozen dead raiders were scattered around the street and surrounding buildings. Leek's guns didn't leave much doubt as to whether any pony who got caught in the crossfire survived. It was going to be a long day.

I did want to see if the Rangers were still in the same house, but I wasn't too keen on discovering first hoof if Leek was as trigger happy as he seemed. Instead I walked back to the house I left Finder in a few houses away. Where the raiders found him. Alone and sick.

Goddesses how could I have been so stupid! After walking through what was left of the front door, I immediately noticed just how much they tore the place up. It pained me to remember that most of the furniture was still organized and intact before they came. I hoped most of this was done in separate acts of violence than what they did to my friend. The obvious trails and spatters of blood told me otherwise.

They must have been in a hurry, because when I checked the bathroom all of our bags were still sitting in the bathtub untouched. Looking through one of Finder's bags I pulled out one of the rusty shovels he 'acquired' from somewhere. With heavy thoughts and a heavier heart I set about what needed to be done.

^^^

In total there were eleven graves, one noticeably larger than the others. Shortly after I started Leek emerged from the same house as this morning. He stood by the door and watched as I dug each grave. Finally after I had buried them all and was putting makeshift headstones over their graves, he trotted up next to me. 

"Why?"

"Because they're ponies."

"They were raiders." He said flatly.

I ignored him. "And all ponies deserve a proper burial."


"They wouldn't have done the same you know."

He stood there silently until I had finished. I finally turned to face him, my eyes were probably still red and wet. "Should it matter? I don't like it when ponies get hurt. Even if they're the bad guys. Why can't every pony just get along?"

He shook his head before trotting back to the house, disappearing through the doorway. I sat alone in front of those graves until nightfall, no real reason to go anywhere else. I wondered what they were like when they were kids. Were they ever even given a choice on what kind of life they would live? What would they have done if they did have a choice? If we all somehow met before the Great War, would we have all been friends?

A gentle hoof nudged my shoulder. "You alright dear? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sunrise stood next to me as she looked at all the graves. "Something on your mind?"

I smiled and stood up, shaking my stiff limbs a little. "Just a silly dream. Guess you two are ready to head out?" She nodded and stood with me. "Mind if I tag along for the trip?"

She shook her head and trotted to Leek's side. After I gathered our things I followed behind them. Having this much extra weight on my back really made it hard to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Then again so did the bickering married couple.

"We're not having kids, and that's final. We don't have time for that!" Leek sounded like he was tired of having this conversation.

"And I said we are having kids, at least one. I know you want to settle down too. We've been wandering around the wasteland for so long..."

"But we haven't found a safe place yet. At least not one we would both be willing to spend the rest of our lives in."

"I know, but I'm just so tired of waiting. I'm starting to think there isn't a safe enough place anymore. Besides I know if somepony is trying to hurt my kid I'll stop them no matter what."

Leek groaned inside his helmet. "You're already talking like you're a mother..."

Sunrise laughed and nudged his shoulder. "Mare's instincts, isn't that right Updraft?" She turned her head to look at me. "Updraft?"

They both stopped and I nearly walked straight into her. "Huh? Oh sorry, what did you ask?"

"Dear is killing that raider still bothering you that much?" Leek snorted and walked a few pony lengths away.

I sat down and stared at my hooves. "No it's just... You two have been talking about having kids, and it hurts knowing that I'll... That I'll never even get to have that kind of talk with anypony."

And here comes the tears. Great. Leek snickered as Sunrise put a hoof on my shoulder. "Why not, get nervous around stallions or something?"

Sunrise's glare silenced him. "That's not what she meant idiot. I'm not going to pretend I know what you're going through, it must be horrible. But I do know a little about losing something precious."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a yellow ball, stained brown from dirt and years of use. "I grew up with the Steel Rangers, my dad was a paladin and my mom was a scribe. They were my whole world. Then one day when i was still just a filly we got attacked."

"Back then RedEye was just getting his operations started, and he needed to prove he wasn't somepony to mess with. They attacked us at night with heavy weapons and those damn anti machine rifles. My father was one of the first to die, but my mother... She died protecting me, distracting some of them long enough for me to run and hide. There weren't any other survivors." 

She examined the ball in her hooves before carefully holding it out for me. "This is all I really have left from them. It may seem silly but this little ball has always meant a lot to me. But now I don't just live to remember them and carry on their dreams. Now I have a life and dreams of my own, so I want you to have this. It's hardly a replacement for what you've lost, but maybe it will make it easier until you find something really worth living for like I did." She smiled and glanced at Leek.

I wasn't sure exactly what to say to that. I mean it was just an old tennis ball, but clearly this was very important to her. "Thank you." I finally said while almost reverently taking the tennis ball from her hooves before placing it in my bags.

We continued walking in silence after that, the others occasionally making mention of the passing scenery. It was already dark, and rapidly getting colder. I was fairly used to this since I lived here my whole life, but I doubted the other two were used to the extreme changes in temperature between day and night.

We were almost there when I noticed a red bar in my vision. I rubbed at my eyes until I remembered my Pipbuck. Then there were two, three, dozens of red lights started filling my vision. They were all around us! I realized quickly there was only one thing that could sneak up on ponies like this with such large numbers. They weren't around us, they were beneath us! 

"Sand snakes!" I yelled before dropping my bags and grabbing on to Sunrise. I grunted as I lifted the mare off the ground on my back. Immediately dozens of snakes ripped from the ground with incredible speed. They swarmed Leek, moving too fast for the Ranger to bring his guns to life. They couldn't bite him through his armor, but they were certainly going to give it their best.

"What are those!?" Sunrise certainly seemed to be handling being this high better than I was. 

"Sand snakes. They bite and they don't let go. They may not suck you dry as fast as a bloodwing will, but a whole nest like that can kill you in a second. And that's not counting their paralyzing venom."

Leek struggled valiantly against the crushing force of so many of the snakes, but within moments he was pushed to the ground as they covered him. "We have to help him!" 

I looked over my shoulder at Sunrise and tried to fight off the growing dizziness I was already starting to feel. "Will that pistol of yours punch through his armor?" 

The look she gave me either meant yes, or that she wasn't too eager to find out. "Okay I have an idea, but I need to set you down first. They sense movement in the ground so just don't move and they shouldn't know you're there."

She nodded grimly as I descended a safe distance from the pile of snakes. I landed gently and she climbed off my back and gingerly stepped down onto the desert floor. Every cautious movement we made seemed like we were moving in slow motion.

Using my wings I flew a couple pony lengths away from Sunrise as I concentrated. Okay remember what Finder said. I have to get angry if I really want to use my magic. I thought about the events of today, but that just made me feel depressed. I tried thinking about how unfair it was that I had to leave my home because some creep can't take no for an answer. But that's what led me to meet Finder, and he's the nicest pony I've ever met.

I settled for thinking about the Wasteland and how screwed up the world is. I've read books and seen pictures of what Equestria used to look like. About what life used to be like, before ponies and zebras blew everything up. 

I closed my eyes and grit my teeth. Seriously how could they have been so selfish! They killed everyone, ruined the whole world over a bunch of dumb rocks! And they got off easy for it too.

They all died, most of them probably didn't even know how. But ponies are fighting and suffering every day now because of what they did. The unfairness of it fueled my anger as I thought about how stupid this all was. I soon felt a familiar warmth in my wings.

Opening my eyes I charged at the pile of snakes. One thing about sand snakes is that they are terrified of fire. Several had already begun to slither away, but I slashed a wing at the writhing pile to get their full attention.

The effect was immediate, and the snakes that weren't on fire quickly fled back underground. The remaining few were stomped into bloody puddles by a very angry Steel Ranger. 

"Little fuckers are annoying." He started wiping his hooves on the ground to get the blood off.

"Maybe to you but they're lethal to the rest of us, so I'm gonna fly with-" Gunshots from Sunrise's pistol cut me off. I quickly turned to see several of the snakes coming out of the ground around her. 

And just like that my concentration died, and so did the flames covering my wings. She fired every shot in her semi automatic pistol at the snakes moving faster than they had any right to. She managed to get two, and a third bit into her saddle bag uselessly. The fourth however sunk it's fangs deep into her leg. Pain crossed her face before her body went limp.

I rushed to her side, cutting the less threatening snake in half before turning to the second. It had coiled itself tightly around her leg, not wanting to let it's prey go.

"What are you waiting for pull it off already!" Leek shouted as he tried to catch up to me.

"Can't. Those fangs are long and curved, once they go in they don't come back out. You would be more likely to break them off from the snake's head, then she'll definitely die." 

He stopped next to me and the tenseness in his voice worried me. "So what are you suggesting we do?"

"Unless you have any healing potions, we wait. That snake is small he won't take much. When he let's go we kill him and take her back to town. Even a full grown sand snake is rarely enough to kill a pony." If all four had gotten to her though...

Seconds dragged on as I recovered my dropped bags, and I was sure Leek was going to take matters into his own hands. But fortunately the snake let go and started to uncoil itself. He didn't let it get far before he crushed its head under a hoof.

I knelt down and gently prodded Sunrise with a hoof. She groaned but didn't move. "She'll be fine, but she won't be able to move for awhile. I think it would be best if I carry her so we can get off the ground in case more of them show up." I didn't give him the option to disagree as I gingerly picked her up and laid her on my back, her head and forelegs draped over my shoulders.

I led the way slowly, Leek trailing behind and constantly moving his head back and forth. Checking for red bars? Finder had mentioned they have something able to do that in their armor, like my Pipbuck. But I thought Pipbucks were created by Stable Tech, not the Ministry of Wartime Technology. Maybe they worked together?

"Why?" My thoughts were interrupted by Leek's augmented voice. 

"Why what?" 

"Why are you trying so hard to help us? Not like you owe us anything. You helped us this morning, and we returned the favor. Going out of your way to help other ponies is far from normal unless you think you can get something out of it."

I looked at him with a smirk. "And what about me screams 'normal' to you?"

He actually laughed at that one. "I suppose you have a point there. But still just because she trusts you doesn't mean I have to."

Wow maybe this guy just never had any friends before. "Alright fine. How do an prove myself to you then?" Since obviously saving his marefriend from sand snakes wasn't good enough.

His answer took me completely by surprise and I nearly tripped over my own hooves. "What's the one thing you love the most?"

I stopped dead in my tracks as I tried to get my brain working again. I opened and closed my mouth several times with answers that all died before I voiced them. I was going to have to think about this...

We continued walking as I repeated the question in my head over and over. Well I've loved blades since I was a filly, it was how I got my Cutie Mark. But I also loved all of my friends too. And complete strangers... Eventually I had my answer. "I love love itself."

He facehoofed. "That is so lame..."

"No really that's my answer. That feeling you get when you see a married couple holding each other, when a colt and filly kiss for the first time... Love is what makes life worth living."

"That is so corny! Come on really, that's your answer?"

I was starting to get really tired of his cool pony act. "Alright fine then what's your answer huh?" I prodded his chest with a hoof.

He didn't look at me. Instead his visor turned to the unconscious mare laying on my back. "She's the only one." His voice sounded distant, like he was deep in a memory. 

I sighed as we started walking again. I really should have expected something like that.

^^^

Everything hurt. My muscles burned and protested every movement, but we made it. I realized this was the first time I had actually walked into town. The whole place was lit up with amber lighting coming from lanterns hung on buildings and old street lights. 

Griff was perched on a rock just outside of town. Upon seeing us he rushed over to meet us. "That walk took a lot longer than it should have, everything okay?" 

When we got closer to the light I nodded my head to Sunrise. "Sand snake got her. Should be fine but I'm going to take her to see Onyx just in case.Griff this is Leek. He's a friend so be nice. Maybe show him a place he can spend the night while I'm at the clinic?"

Leek snorted. "What like some kind of date? I'm not leaving her side, much less to follow some Talon around a town."

Griff took a threatening step towards the Steel Ranger. "You got a problem with griffons buddy?"

Leek matched his stance, almost coming nose to beak with the tall predator. "Only if their low life scum. Which since that's all of your kind, then I guess I do."

Griff prodded the Ranger as a scowl formed across his face. "You're Lucky Updraft here doesn't want me to show you how good I am at opening tin cans like you."

"Hey come on you two, at least pretend to like each other?" Don't know why I bothered, they weren't listening to me anyways and I was far too tired to stop them.

Leek laughed and I heard some clicks within his armor. "Hah I'd like to see you try birdbrain. What happened to your wing? Guess you aren't as good as you think you are."

"Please... stop fighting..." Everyone stopped and turned to see Sunrise weakly holding her head up, her eyes barely open. "Updraft's right... Can't we all just... get along?"

Leek rushed to her (and mine by default) side and gently put an armored hoof on her shoulder. She smiled weakly up at him, but I could tell she was about to fall asleep again.

"Come on let's go get her better. Leek you're welcome to follow, but you better not cause any trohble. Griff would you do me a really big favor?"

He nodded. "Sure thing, I'm stuck here for a while longer anyways."

"Could you take these bags to the orphanage? Quick will be glad to see what all we brought back."

After he slung the bags of scrap over his back he nodded and walked off in the direction of the orphanage. 

Without another word I slowly made my way to Beryl's Bar. To his credit Leek didn't say a word despite the looks many of the ponies were giving him. Steel Rangers were not highly thought of in most of the wasteland it seemed.

After entering the bar however, I froze as all eyes turned on us. Talons, over a dozen of them had filled the bar. Beryl looked stressed out of his mind, and the other ponies in the bar all looked like they were wary of making the wrong move. But when the Steel Ranger and a pegasus walked into the room everyone went silent. 

I ducked my head and tried to become as small as possible as I walked across the bar and into the clinic. Leek wasn't helping with his cool guy attitude, walking as tall as he could and making sure to look at every griffin we passed. The short walk felt like a funeral march, but thankfully we made it to the clinic without a fight breaking out.

"Not again... what happened this time?"

I shook my head and walked passed Onyx, giving her a good look at Sunrise. "Sand snake got her, I think she's fine but I wanted to be sure."

Leek stood by the door, presumably watching for any griffons to wander too close to the clinic's door. 

Onyx nodded as she looked the mare over. "Yeah she's fine, just needs some rest. But I really would like to check that bullet wound out, make sure everything heals properly." 

That's right, the wound from this morning I gave her my healing potion for. I sure hope the bullet isn't still inside her. "Okay well I'm going to get something to eat. Leek I'm sure Onyx won't mind you waiting here, but seriously please try to stay out of trouble. This town is safe, nice, and quiet. Let's keep it that way." He didn't say a word as I walked past him and back into the bar.

And suddenly I wanted to disappear again. While their stares weren't as intense before and there were still plenty of conversations going, I still felt the attention of a room full of predators. I noticed Griff sitting at the bar with a large, female Talon and figured that was my safest chance to get some food. I sat next to him and ordered some pre-war food from Beryl. He looked relieved to be selling anything other than meat this evening. 

"So Updraft what's the deal with the Ranger asshole?" Griff was eating some kind of cooked rodent while drinking his usual whiskey.

"I don't know what his problem is. But he and Sunrise helped me out this morning when more Red Tail idiots came looking for me so I'm trying to give him a chance." I sighed and rested my head on the bar. Today was not a fun day.

"Red Tail idiots?"

"Yeah remember how I said I can't go back home? Well those guys are the reason."

"Birds of a feather huh Griff?" The large Talon next to him intoned and shook his shoulder.

"Oh right sorry, name's Updraft. Town guard of Desert Springs and now a wandering radioactive pegasus." The Talon tilted her head but extended a hand to shake my hoof.

"Name's Vera, but this sorry lot just calls me Captain. So you're the one who rescued this idiot from Las Pegasus?" 

I was going to disagree with her definition of rescue but Griff cut me off. "Yeah she's with me, so none of you scoundrels start getting any ideas alright?" He raised his voice loud enough for the room to hear. It was rewarded as I was called some not so nice names and a few catcalls rang out. 

Oh dear, I tried to get so small in my chair I wasn't sure if Beryl would be able to see me over the counter. Vera laughed and slammed the rest of her drink.

"Relax pegasus we may be scoundrels but we aren't raiders. But enough small talk, I have a business deal for you."

"Oh? What's that?" I sat up and perked my ears. Right now all I really wanted was to sleep and wait here until finder was awake. But I really could use some caps since all of mine got stolen. 

"A caravan will be coming through here in two days. I promised them two of my Talons, but plans changed and I need everyone I can get to handle a different problem." 

At my questioning look Griff answered me. "Those bandits killed four of us, and that isn't going over very well. Captain decided if we wanted to secure any business deals here in the future, we needed to deal with them first."

"Whoa back up a second. You guys are going after the Sand Dogs? But that's crazy!"

Vera narrowed her eyes at me. "You don't think we can take them?" 

Oh shit. "Oh no of course not that's not what I meant at all. It's just that's awfully generous of you to risk your lives like that for us ponies like that..." Smooth.

"We're not doing it for you. We're going to go kill those fuckers because they need to die. They're hurting my business, and they killed four of my Talons. Plain as that."

Nice one Updraft, why not ask her how good of friends they were to her, maybe family even. I decided to change the subject before it was too late. "So... You want me to guard a caravan?"

Vera still looked mad but at least it didn't seem directed at me anymore. "Yes, you and two more ponies. The caravan already has a te of it's own guards but they're taking a dangerous route. Don't fuck it up alright? She's an old business partner of mine so you better keep them safe." 

Griff nodded and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Ask about the pay, she like that."

"So uhh, Captain. This sounds like a pretty risky job, what's the pay?"

She laughed and stood up. "Vera will do, you aren't exactly a Talon after all. Coach Gun always pays well and takes care of her ponies, so I'd say at least 150 caps. Remember pony, fuck this up and I will find you." 

She narrowed her eyes and raised two talons, first pointing them at her eyes then at mine. Okie dokie lokie...

As soon as she walked off I perked my ears as a noise started filling the room. Griff watched me with a knowing smile as I searched the room for the source. "Come on I think you'll like this."

He led me through the crowd to the opposite side of the bar. In the corner two identical looking griffons were standing on their hind legs, each holding something I've never seen before. They looked like the guitars I've seen in an old book, but a little different. What amazed me though was the sound they were making.

The griffons were making music! It wasn't the same as listening to the radio, this was real music I could watch them make. I sat and watched them as they each took turns playing their instrument, playfully mocking the other as they tried to outdo them. I guess the other Talons were used to the show because they didn't pay them any special attention, but I couldn't take my eyes off of them.

I noticed Griff stand up next to them, holding a guitar in his hands as he nodded to me. Soon the twin griffons were playing at the same time and I was surprised when Griff joined in. His guitar made a much deeper noise than the others. The three of them played through the song as if they had done it a thousand times, not even paying attention to their hands or instruments as they looked out over the crowd.

A rhythmic clap had begun in the crowd to accompany the music, and soon the whole bar was alive as griffons and ponies alike cheered the musicians on.

All but the little pegasus sitting right in front of them. I was too awestruck to participate in the cheers as they finished their song. They wasted no time in starting another song as one of the twins set his not-guitar down and hefted a huge instrument I've never seen before. Even standing on his hind legs it was almost as big as he was!

A third 'twin' joined them. Like the other two she was huge even for a griffon, but the instrument she carried was like a small guitar. If I wasn't so dumbfounded I might have made a joke about big griffons with little guitars.

As soon as they started playing I was surprised to see a small colt walk up to them holding what I recognized as a violin. He was nervous and played more quietly than the others, but as the bar's patrons cheered he got into it just as much as the rest. He stood up on his hind legs proudly, playing his little instrument surrounded by giant griffons.

They played for what felt like an hour as I sat and watched. Sometimes they would swap out instruments, one of them would play some kind of solo. It wasn’t until they played a particularly sad song that I found I just couldn’t enjoy the music anymore. As the female griffon stepped forward and sung about her home and how much she wished she was there, I found that I just couldn’t shake the homesickness I felt.

Nodding goodbye to Griff I made my way back across the bar to the clinic. It was much quieter back here, and I was grateful Onyx was too busy in the bar to notice me come back here. Leek was still standing by the door as he watched over his sleeping marefriend. I wondered if that buck ever went to sleep. Sneaking into Finder’s medical room I tried to be as quiet as I could as I sat next to his bed. He was still asleep, his breathing was ragged and his coat was matted down from all the sweat. 

I sighed and pulled the mostly dry towel from his forehead and replaced it with a cleaner one soaked in warm water. My voice was no more than a whisper. “No matter what, I’m going to help you find a home. Someplace you can really live like the kind pony you are.  You deserve so much more, but I think that’s the best I can do.” 

I laid my head on the side of his bed, watching him breath until I fell asleep at some point.


^        ^        ^


Level Up!

Filly’s League: Years of practice with your blades has honed your skill with melee weapons. +5 to melee damage. (Rank 3, maxed rank)
> Chapter 11 - A Glimpse of the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Desert Springs, I lived a pretty relaxed life. I worked when I had to, played when I could, and took quite a lot of naps. Of course these naps weren't always peaceful, as I was often woken up by somepony with a problem of some kind. My least favorite way for somepony to wake me up is when they decide to shake me. Like somepony was doing to me right now...

I groaned and rubbed at my eyes. I somehow managed to fall asleep sitting at Finder’s bed with my head resting near his hooves. As I shifted I felt a blanket slide off my back. "We need to talk." Whoever it was the voice was deep and rough, not somepony I knew.

Blinking my eyes I found the room to still be dark. My Pipbuck told me it was just a little after 3 in the morning. Great.

"Can't it wait until the sun’s up?" I yawned and tried to keep my voice at a whisper. Finder was still asleep and he needed as much of it as he could get.

"No, now." He said before walking back outside. Celestia this pony's bedside manners are terrible.

I glanced at Finder once more before following the other pony through the door. Beryl was sitting at the bar with a candle, polishing bar mugs and glasses with a rag. He nodded to me as we passed but I couldn’t read his expression.

As I stepped out into the street I nearly jumped out of my wings as the older buck spoke up too loudly at three in the morning. “Follow me, I would prefer to talk with more privacy.”

I looked around at the dark, empty street before shrugging and following him. “So… You’re Mr. Carbuncle right?” I waited for him to respond, but as the moments dragged on I continued. “I’ve heard some interesting things about you while I’ve been here.” Not that I didn’t trust Beryl but I wanted to get all sides of the story.

“I do what needs to be done to protect my town. No matter where the threats come from.” I figured he would say something like that. There was something in his tone that was starting to worry me. “Here.”

We came to a stop at a small house that was built sometime after The Great War. After unlocking the door the unicorn motioned me inside. I walked past him into the dark room lit only by a single candle on a wooden table in the corner. The room was furnished modestly; a small couch with the stuffing falling out was next to the table, and a desk sat against the opposite wall with a dead terminal on top. As soon as I heard the door close I felt something dull and heavy hit the back of my head. I blacked out before I even hit the ground.

“The other day he hit a merchant with a baseball bat because he thought his prices were too high.”

Well this isn’t good.

^^^

I grit my teeth against the pain as I fought my way back to consciousness. “For an old guy he sure can swing a bat…” Okay Updraft deep breaths, you aren’t dead yet so that probably isn’t his intention. Let’s see… aside from the extreme pain in my head and what’s probably a concussion, everything else seems fine. As I tried and failed to rub the back of my head with a hoof, I discovered all was definitely not fine.

I opened my eyes to find I had been brought into some kind of basement. Again the room was lit by a single candle on a wooden table, but on the wall next to it were rows of huge lockers. But what bothered me was the ropes tying me up like some sort of cargo. All four hooves were tied together tightly, the ropes digging deep into my legs. My wings however were cruelly tied together with barbed wire, and as I started regaining my senses that pain came to the front of my mind. 

“About time you woke up. Now, we can talk. Why are you here.”

I fought back tears as all the pain started coming back at once. My wings and head hurt the worst; but my legs, back, and neck were all letting me know they received little better attention from my captor. He was not gentle when he moved me down here. All I could think to say as I laid on the cold stone floor is to ask the same question I always do.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you... to deserve this?”

He laughed. He actually laughed at my question. “Because your a winged bitch just like the last one. Now answer my question. Why are you here?”

“I don’t... understand. I’m just helping a friend-” My reply was cut off as he kicked my side. I coughed and tried to regain my breath but he kicked me again. 

“Don’t lie to me pegasus. You know you’re kind has been here before, did your damned enclave tell you that? They used to fly over the town occasionally, watching what we were doing with the gems.”

He wore a sickening grin as he leaned down next to me. “That is until I shot one of them through the wing. The rest of the cowards left her to die as they flew off, haven’t come back since.”

He stood up and walked over to the lockers, opening one as he started looking for something.

“I dragged her back here and tied her up, just like you. Of course she resisted at first, but I can be very persuasive when I need to be.” He trotted back to me and dropped a fearsome black helmet next to me. It was clean and shiny at one time, but now it was covered in bloodstains.

“You know she lasted nearly a week before she talked. Though she was much bigger and stronger than you, so I don’t expect much.”

I struggled against the ropes around my hooves in some vain attempt to look stronger than I felt at the moment. “I already told you, I’m just trying to help a friend. I’ve never even been above the clouds, I’ve lived in Desert Springs my whole life.”

He stood up with a sigh. “The things I do for you ponies…” He muttered under his breath as he walked back to the lockers. “Is that so? You’re a wastelander like the rest of us then?”

“Yes.” I was reluctant with my answer. I didn’t know where he was going with this but it couldn’t be anywhere good. 

“No enclave plots or sneaky plans then? Just a rogue pegasus, skilled in combat, traveling with a mutated abomination of a pony who happens to be skilled in all manners of espionage, traveling the desert on some kind of errand?”

“Wait how do you know anything about Finder you creep?”

“The little brat stole something from me, it had to be him. And after I’m done here I’m going to get it back.” He shouted at me as he leaned down to my face. I avoided looking at him until he stood back up and smiled.

“Well if you're going to claim to be one of us...” He trailed off as he turned around, then back to me with some kind of crude saw held in his magic. “You might as well start looking a little more like us.”

No. Nonono he can’t be thinking about doing that. “You can’t be serious! Come on I swear I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear just put that thing away!” 

That sick grin came back. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to get much fight out of you, but maybe I was wrong. Don’t worry I’ll let you talk later. But for now shut the fuck up!”

I tried to yell for help as he pressed his weight on my back. But another rope was levitated around my muzzle and pulled far too tight, preventing me from opening my mouth. He put a hoof on the back of my head and pressed my chin to the floor.“Don’t worry your body will go into shock soon and you won’t feel much after that.”

Tears filled my eyes as he shifted around on my back, removing the barbed wire keeping my wings together. He bit into the tip of one wing and held the other down with a hoof. I felt the cold metal of the saw press against the base of my wing, and his lips curve into a smile.

“Let her go Carbuncle!” 

I couldn’t see much from my position, but I immediately recognized the voice of Quick Wick. The unicorn let the wing in his mouth drop to the floor as he sighed. “Ah yes, the young interloper. You never did learn to mind your own business, I should have killed you when you first arrived. Well no time like the present!”

All I could see was the bright green glow from Carbuncle’s horn, but I heard Quick slam into something hard. Carbuncle was off my back in a flash as he charged the recovering earth pony. I moaned as I tried to shift my body to see what was happening.

I didn’t get to see why it happened, but I did get to see Quick thrown across the room like a rock into a locker. He didn’t get up right way, and when he did it was noticeably slowly.

“What’s the matter youngster? Can’t keep up with a seasoned fighter like me? You’re not even worth my time, you’re nothing!” Carbuncle shouted as he charged with his bat in his telekinetic grip. 

The blue pony glanced at me, and the confidence in his eyes washed even my fears away. His next three moves were all so fast I barely kept up. 

Carbuncle first swung his bat, and Quick ducked under it and to the left. The old unicorn tried to follow up with a kick to where my friend’s head would be, but Quick feinted to the right faster than the old pony could react. With one smooth movement he drew a small double barrel shotgun from it’s holster on his leg.

The bang was deafening in the small space, but Carbuncle fell to the floor having no clue what had even killed him. Quick had unloaded both barrels into his head at point blank range… There wasn’t much left.

After holstering his gun he rushed to my side and untied my muzzle first before moving to my legs. “You know we really need to stop meeting like this, I’m already getting tired of seeing so much of your blood.”

I rewarded his comment with a ragged coughing fit, more of my blood spattering on the floor. Well that’s not good. “Sorry…”

His eyes met mine and all the pain was forgotten as he smiled at me gently. “You have nothing to apologize for. I always knew Carbuncle was a crazy bastard but this is just sick.” 

I nodded and rose to my hooves, another coughing fit slowing me down. My insides felt like they were put through a wood chipper, did he kick me all the way down here? Actually that wouldn’t surprise me. Quick offered me a healing potion, and I felt immensely grateful as many of the less serious injuries began to heal.

“Quick you alright? I heard a shot.” Beryl rushed down the stairs and into the basement, a huge sword and a kitchen knife held in his magic. “Updraft! Thank Celestia we found you in time. I think I figured out what they’ve been doing to their victims after they kill them.”

I tilted my head and shared a worried glance with Quick. “What do you mean?”

“In the kitchen, second fridge. Care for the body though, Olivine rushed me with a kitchen knife when I tried to talk to her. Crazy bitch.” He dropped the offending knife on the floor at his hooves. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what that sword could do to an unarmored pony.

“Well what do we have here…” It wasn’t a pony I recognized, but I knew enough about guns to know having an assault rifle pointed at you was not a good thing. “You three have made quite a mess of things.”

The green unicorn walked down the stairs with measured slowness. He was taking in as much information about the situation as he could before making any decisions. I preferred it when my enemies were stupid and charged right into incoming attacks.

“Jasper don’t tell me you’re in on this too.” Quick looked angrier than I ever recall seeing him before. Jasper laughed as we all backed farther into the room, keeping his rifle trained on Beryl.

“Not exactly. I knew that these sickos were cannibals yes, but I never could stomach the stuff. However I did have a pretty nice business deal going on here. A business deal you twats just ruined.”

I wasn’t sure what I could do to help here. Quick never reloaded his shotgun, Beryl had that gun aimed right at him, and I didn’t even have a weapon. But I did have speed, and with a little luck I could make this work.

“But don’t worry I already know how I can make a recovery. Just imagine, all the cheap labor I could get out of those damn kids if you weren’t in the way? And if the local bar owner ends up dead during his savage attack on the town mayor, who would take over the bar? Onyx can’t run it, and there’s only one pony here with the caps to give her an offer she can’t resist.” He adopted a smile I could only describe as greasy, and I could tell it was taking every bit of Beryl’s patience to not rush for him.

“Which leaves me with you.” His eyes turned to me, and it took me a moment to realize he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at me. “Yes I can think of a few things I could do with that. Maybe even move in to keep you down here, in your very own bird cage.”

By now I was without a doubt the most angry one in the room. “You sick fuck! Don’t you have even a shred of decency? Or are you willing to debase yourself in every way possible? Killing ponies, threatening kids, and breaking the heart of somepony as kind as Onyx isn’t enough for you? Now you want to enslave another pony like this just to feel some kind of accomplishment?”

I could see the panic rising in his eyes as he aimed the gun at me now. “Carbuncle was a fool to leave you alive, you’re too unpredictable.”

Oh I’ll show him how unpredictable I can be. With a thrust of my wings I dashed to my right, drawing his shots away from the others as he filled the room with noisy death. As I reached the wall I used my wings to jump almost all the way to the ceiling before kicking off the wall and flying at him as fast as I could. 

He expected me to fly directly at him, and he fired another burst of bullets into the air in front of him. Unfortunately for him I was aiming for the knife on the ground nearby. I landed and grabbed the knife in my mouth, keeping my momentum going as I rolled forward and stabbed the knife deep into his chest. Maybe I was still shook up after the fight with Big Guns, but I didn’t stop until I had stabbed his chest twice and slashed a long cut across his neck.

I stood there panting as I dropped the knife to the floor. He stood and reached a hoof out to me before falling into a puddle of his own blood. I collapsed as my exhaustion overwhelmed me, but Quick was by my side for me to rest against.

He held me close as I cried into his shoulder. It was all just too much. This, Finder’s condition, the stable, it was all just too much too fast. “Why are so some ponies just so horrible?”

Quick’s soft voice helped to calm me down. “The wasteland is a cruel, unfair place. It tries to take away everything you love and tear you down piece by piece. Those horrible ponies are just the ones who gave up. They let the wasteland beat them down and turn them into monsters. They’re not bad ponies, they just gave up on the good fight.”

I wiped my face with a hoof and nodded. “Thank you.” Beryl had politely waited to the side as I had another little breakdown. After I felt good enough to stand on my own he trotted past us and up the stairs. I took several more moments to catch my breath before following him. Quick was the last one up the stairs, and I had a feeling he paused to reload his gun this time.

The entrance to the basement was concealed by a removable piece of the wood floor. This house was probably built on top of the remains of a house built before the war if I had to guess. Next to the hidden stairs was the door to the kitchen, Olivine’s body laying in the doorway. Beryl’s sword had cut from one shoulder almost all the way to the other, nearly cutting the mare in half. Well that was a pretty terrible way to die.

I sat with Beryl in the main room while Quick walked into the kitchen. I could tell something was bothering him. “Beryl are you alright? Is what Jasper said bothering you?”

Again I just couldn’t read his expression as he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have let you come alone. I knew something was wrong.”

I smiled wryly and nudged his shoulder with a hoof. “You knew these two were cannibals and they liked to tie up pegasi in the basement? Come on don’t beat yourself up over it I’m fine.”

He didn’t smile back. “Yeah but what if you weren’t fine? Even if we found out and stopped them from ever doing it again, you’d still be dead. Like who knows how many other ponies he’s killed right in front of us! I’ve lived here nearly my whole life Updraft, and Carbuncle’s been here as long as I can remember. How many ponies has he killed, how many did they chop up and eat by now? And we did nothing to stop it.”

He sighed and glanced at the front door. “What if it had been Onyx next time, or one of the kids? I came out here to get away from this kind of stuff, but I guess there’s just no escaping the wasteland is there?”

Quick came back before I could respond and I didn’t want to press the issue with an audience. “Yeah that’s definitely not radgator meat in there. Good thing they won’t be hurting anypony else.” I nodded as we all walked back outside. The sun was just starting to rise, and the ponies were already milling about in the streets.

“So what now?” I asked as I looked back at the house warily. I was definitely going to hug my wings a little closer tonight.

“Well first of all you’re going to go see Onyx.” From the look Beryl was giving me I must have looked as bad as I felt. “With Jasper gone we’ll need to figure something out with the mine too. Since it was his all the work went through him and he kept a lot of the profit from what was found down there. Quick will you help me gather everypony at the bar?”

He nodded and they both trotted away in different directions. I watched Quick go until he disappeared around a corner. With a sigh I slowly made my way to the clinic. With every step I was becoming more sure that something was wrong with me.

I had just killed Jasper, brutally. Sure it was not only self defense, but for the sake of other ponies as well. But unlike after I had killed the slavers, I didn’t feel even remotely upset about it. I didn’t even feel empty or at any kind of loss. Killing him didn’t have any special meaning to me more than taking out the trash or sharpening a knife. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

He had just made me so angry! Since I was a filly I believed that everypony can become better, and nopony deserves to die. But it seems like every day since I left Desert Springs I’ve faced ponies so horrible, so absolutely wrong that the only way to help the good ponies is to take out the bad ones.

Was the wasteland turning me into a killer? Was I becoming the very thing I’ve always sworn to protect ponies from? Sure it’s easy to argue that the only ponies I’ve killed were bad and were trying to hurt other ponies. But already it was getting easier each time to kill, what will I be like by the end of the month? Will it start becoming easier to kill ponies just because it’s more convenient?

These thoughts plagued my mind as I walked down the street. I had passed the clinic, instead venturing further to the edge of town. I found the rock that Griff had sat on waiting for us to return from the crater, and decided it did look like a pretty good place to sit.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, one of the few times you really get to see it. I felt the brilliant light wash over me, basking in it’s warmth and promise of a new day. Almost instinctively my wings opened up as I sat there lost in my own thoughts. I wondered what the new day would bring with it. 

Each day was a new promise of hope, a new chance to make a difference in the world. No matter how bad the previous day was, that hope is what always kept me going. The belief that no matter how bad or hard life is, every day is a chance to make it just a little bit better. 

I closed my eyes and smiled. I will likely have to kill again, and there’s no telling what kinds of horrors will face me as I wander the wasteland helping those I can. But no matter what, so long as Celestia’s beautiful sun is still shining down on us I will never lose hope that I can be better. That the wasteland can be better.

Bleh I shouldn’t do so much thinking while I probably have a concussion.

With a deep breath I rolled to my hooves and made my way back to the clinic. My muscles ached all over, but at least I still had my wings. Even if they were a bloody mess yet again.

As I neared the bar I could hear a loud commotion going on inside. Most of the townsponies had gathered inside or around the building to hear the news. And they were not very happy.

I caught pieces of conversations as I tried to make my way through the small crowd.

“Did he say old Carbuncle’s dead?”

“Well somepony’s got to take charge around here.”

“Well I vote for Quartz.” One black-coated buck shouted and laughed as another jabbed him in the side.

“Your brother? Oh come on we all know how that will end.”

“With the whole town making and drinking booze?” They both laughed as I ducked past them and into the bar. 

Inside the bar was just as busy as outside. Ponies talked in loud conversations all throughout the bar, each group trying to talk louder than the rest. Beryl spotted me and without a word pushed me back to the clinic. After he closed the door behind us it got much quieter.

“Where have you been I told you to come straight here.” After he checked me over to ensure I hadn’t suffered any further injury he stepped back with a sigh. “We heard about what happened the other night you know, Onyx and I were worried about you.”

“I’m fine alright? No need to worry.” Then remembering I was yet again an injured mess in the clinic… “Okay maybe I’m not ‘fine’, but I can take care of myself!”

Onyx trotted in from Finder’s room and took one look at me. Without a word she motioned for me to get on her table yet again. After a quick check up and confirming that I did in fact have a minor concussion, the unicorn turned her attention to my wings. She hung her head with a sigh and admitted, “I still have no idea what to do about that. I’ve looked through all my books since you got here but I don’t know anything about pegasus anatomy. The talons have a doctor that fixed up the griffon’s wing, so I’ll see if I can find her again.” 

She sighed and mumbled something about needing a drink. “Isn’t it a little early in the day to start drinking?” I couldn’t help but ask, the sun just came up!

Beryl laughed and shook his head. “Why else do you think she married a bartender?”

“Alright that’s enough out of you, go on! Shoo!” Onyx chased Beryl back into the bar with a surgical tray held in her magic. I couldn’t help but smile at the couple’s antics. “Never get married it’s a trap. Okay anyways just hang tight here and I’ll try and find that griffon for you.”


^         ^          ^


“So you like music right?” The large griffon asked after she finished examining my wings. She opened her bag and pulled a roll of bandages, something I was starting to get tired of seeing. “Or at least you sure seemed to enjoy the show last night.”

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as I poked a hoof at the floor. “Sorry about that. I’ve just never heard music like that before.”

She laughed as she wrapped my wings up. “No worries, most people haven’t. That kind of music wasn’t very popular before the war either.”

I sat up straighter and extended my wings fully. “No I mean the only music I’ve ever heard is when one of the merchants that visited my town would record some of DJ-Pon3’s broadcasts. And it was always such sad music. But last night that music was…” 

“Upbeat?” I nodded trusting she knew what I was talking about. I had absolutely no idea what that word even meant. “So is that why you got up and left during our last song? The one about home?”

“Yeah… I miss home.” She had finished with my wings and walked around to stand in front of me.

“Tell me about it. Griff, the twins, and I all grew up in the same village. We kept to ourselves above the clouds so the Enclave didn’t bother us. Until the last “Crusade” when the other griffon's decided to pick a fight they couldn’t win. Bastards nearly made us extinct because of their pride.”

“Crusade?” I was thrilled to meet someone who seemed as interested in history as I was. Plus she knew something about the other pegasi too!

“Well that’s what we call them. The Clavers just called them Griffon Wars. There were three total, and the damn Enclave has won every one of them. Now the only griffons above the clouds are hiding in caves and living on scraps like the rest of us.”

She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Look I heard that you’ve never been above the clouds before. I don’t know what you’re expecting if you ever get to go up there, but I don’t want you to be caught off guard. There’s only one difference between being up there and being down here. Down here they’ll shoot you in the face, up there they’ll shoot you in the back.”

^^^

“Come again?”

I was enjoying my lunch at Beryl’s when the Captain had made her proposition. Seeing as Nowhere didn’t have a mayor, Beryl and Quick were elected the town leaders for now. Aside from the four of us, Onyx and a hooffull of other townponies were also here.

“Look I know you don’t really have anyone in charge here, and trust me it shows. You’ve got no defenses, no guards, you don’t even have a basic set of laws to follow. All I’m saying is let my Talons make this place a home, and you’ll have protection from even the strongest raider gangs in the wasteland.”

“And let you all start making rules and telling us what to do? No thank you.” Quick replied and was followed by a few others. 

“I’m not saying we’re going to start changing the way you all run the town. Look this place is a small, dying town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well yeah, hence the name.” Onyx chimed in as the others laughed.

“But don’t you want more than this? Just barely scraping by, not knowing if a caravan will even show up to bring your much needed food? I know you ponies have the goods to trade, but no caravan’s gonna make the trip out here if they don’t feel safe. That’s where we’ll come in.”

Vera sat down at the bar next to me and sighed. “Look we’re about to head out and hit the Sand Dog stronghold, and that’s a good start. But if you ponies want this place to really be safe we’ve got a lot of work to do. Now I’m willing to do it because I see one hell of a business opportunity out here, but I can’t do it for free. Give us a place to hang our coats up and we’ll keep you safe.”

Beryl looked around at the many conflicting faces around the room. “I don’t know. I mean it sounds good and all, but we’ve never had any problems here before.”

“Well I don’t see what’s the hold up.”

Everypony (plus one griffon) turned to look at me. Have I mentioned before how much I hate being the center of attention? “I mean… I guess you have a point, why buy security if you’ve never been attacked before right? But just because you haven’t had problems before doesn’t mean you never will. Extra security is always nice to have, plus what are you losing? Maybe a few of the empty buildings around town will be full of griffons?”

I looked around at the gathered ponies as what I said started to sink in. “Plus the extra business around town can only be good. Talons need food and water to take on their trips, lots of ammo and weapons. Armor repairs and medical supplies, not to mention booze at the end of the day right Beryl?”

He laughed and rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “Yeah I must admit that business has been great since you all showed up. I may run out of stock soon at this rate.” Several of the others agreed.

“And with that the caravans will be bringing more supplies with each trip to sell, making it more worthwhile for them to come. Maybe set up some discounted protection from the Talons and boom! You got yourselves a pretty sweet deal here.”

Vera scratched her chin before nodding. “Yes I suppose I could work something out like that. Give protection at a discount in order to assure future business deals, I could spin that. Not like every Talon will be working the bigger jobs all the time anyways.”

I stood up and stretched. “Right, then I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ve got some graves to go dig.” Everypony else stared as I grabbed the shovel from my bags and walked out the door. I almost made it a block before Quick caught up. Not as fast of a runner as his name suggests.

“Updraft wait! What do you mean graves?”

I spit the shovel out and balanced it on my back. “Well somepony needs to dig graves old for Carbuncle and the others. Figure it might as well be me.” Not to mention I was the one who killed Jasper…

He stood dumbfounded before I heard a familiar laugh beside me. Leek trotted up with Sunrise laying on his back. She smiled and waved at me weakly. “Yeah she does that. Not like it’s the weirdest thing she does. I killed nearly a dozen raiders yesterday, and she dug graves for all of them.”

I shrugged before turning to Sunrise. “And how are you feeling? Sand snakes aren’t that bad right? I told the big guy that you’d be fine but he just kept crying about it.”

Leek snorted but Sunrise hugged him tightly. “Aww, big softie. I feel fine though thanks to you. Guess I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything. I did what anypony else would do. So guess you two are sticking around for a while?”

Leek started to say something about keeping away from griffons, but Sunrise cut him off. “Yes we’ll be staying under Onyx’s care for a few days until she’s sure I can get around on my own. She won’t let me pay her though…” 

I turned to Quick and tilted my head. “Does she charge any of her patients?”

He shrugged. “She’s never charged me for any of the kids either. Guess she get’s money from Beryl to pay for things. That’s the only thing everypony here has in common, they all like a good drink.” Fair enough.

I checked my Pipbuck and found it to be just after noon. “Well I’d best be off, I’ll leave you two to your sightseeing.” With a nod I spread my wings and flew a few ponylengths from the ground. 

It didn’t take me long to get back to the house that started my day off. The door was still open, the body of Olivine clearly visible to anypony that happened to look inside as they passed. I gently closed it as I walked around the house.

I started digging the two graves a fair distance behind the building, leaving plenty of room since there will probably be some Talons living here within a week. As usual digging the graves was the easy part, at least for me.

After making sure there weren’t any kids around I carefully carried Olivine’s body outside and laid her in her grave. Only now did I recognize her as the green unicorn from the other night. The one that enjoyed cutting my mane and tail up.

After burying her I went back to get Carbuncle. Just touching him made my stomach turn, and not just because he no longer had a head. I may have rushed a little more than usual to get him in his grave and buried…

I used two large rocks as their headstones, but without knowing them all I could scratch on there was their names. 

“I sure wish it could have ended differently, that we all just could have been friends. But I guess not everypony can put their differences aside. Guess I need to find out where Jasper lived next.” I wasn’t talking to anypony in particular, so I was rather surprised when Quick answered.

“He lived by the entrance to the mine. I’ll take you there.” 

“Well you don’t have to, not like any of this mess is your fault.” 

He trotted over and put a hoof on my shoulder, staring into my eyes. “And it isn’t your fault either alright?”

I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “Jasper was…”

He shook his head and walked over to the two graves. “You buried these two, I’ll go bury Jasper alright? You’ve done more than your fair share.” I started to argue but he held a hoof up and cut me off. “Plus I think there’s a certain purple filly who wants to see you. Head over to the Oasis.”

He walked back to me and hugged me tight (ohmygosh). “You deserve some time off alright? Just walk in the direction of the orphanage and look for the only blue building on the way, can’t miss it.”

It took less than a second for me to return the hug. “Thanks, this really means a lot to me.” After one more look at the two graves I wandered off in the direction of the orphanage. I wondered what the Oasis even was. It can’t be a bar, Beryl would have mentioned it by now. Quick said something about the younger kids working in a gem shop, maybe that’s what it was? Well as I approached the blue building in question I guess I was going to find out.

It was painted (rather poorly) to look like blue water in the middle of the desert, with fake trees and a sign proudly proclaiming it as ‘Oasis’. As I walked in the front door I’ll admit it turned out to be the last thing I expected.

Sure enough when I checked my Pipbuck it said Oasis Spa and Bath. Huh.

“Updraft you came! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Geode shouted as she tackled my leg with a hug.

“Whoa there kiddo of course I came. As soon as I heard my favorite filly needed me I came right away.” I grinned and tousled her mane.

“Really? That’s so cool! Mom Updraft’s here and she said I get to fix her mane like mine!” I followed her into the next room, a sign above the door labeling it as the Bathhouse.

I was immediately greeted by four ponies, all of which had drastically different colors. I recognized Sapphire first, as well as a purple unicorn I saw at the meeting with Vera earlier today. There was also a red earth pony and a green unicorn. Oddly enough they all had matching brownish-red manes and tails.

“Welcome to the Oasis! How may I assist you?”

“Oh thank Celestia a customer? I’ve been dying of boredom over here.” 

“Oh and a Pegasus pony too? Maybe I’ll finally get to use that book I found.”

“Girls!” The older purple unicorn shouted, and several apologies followed from the others. “I’m sorry about that dear, I’m afraid we don’t get much business out here. How may we help you?”

A lot of questions were going through my head, like why there was so much clean water in here and what kind of book did the green unicorn find. But firstly, “What is this place?”

The red earth pony was the first to answer, nearly jumping in place from excitement. “This is the Oasis silly, only place in all of Nowhere to go if you want your mane done, or a hot bath, or a massage, or anything fun really. Most of the ponies here don’t like fun though…”

“Baths? Where do you get all the water from?” 

“Well we have the town’s only water talisman here. Most of the water is run through the old water system so everypony has water in their respective homes and businesses, but we have enough leftover to run a few baths for our customers. What do you say?”

I rubbed a hoof at the floor out of embarrassment. “Sorry I don’t have any caps.”

Amethyst laughed and urged me to one of the changing rooms. “Nonsense. It’s all been paid for by that handsome stallion from the orphanage.”

Oh. Of course it was. With a nod and maybe a tiny hint of a blush I walked into the changing room she directed me to. Which I thought the very existence of such a room was silly but whatever. After removing my bags and barding I walked back into the bath house. Without anything to defend myself with I felt strangely naked…

“Now just lay down in this bath and relax. Careful though the water may be a little hot.” As soon as my hooves touched the water I practically melted into the tub. I probably looked like a chem addict as I laid there in pure bliss. “I take it you’re enjoying it?” Amethyst laughed as I nodded dumbly.

“Come along girls let’s not bother her, after all the point in a spa visit is to relax.”

^^^

That filly needs to lay off the snack cakes was all I could think about as Geode bounced around the room. After the most incredible bath ever followed by a massage, I followed her into the Mane Stylings room and laid down on the cushion she motioned to. “Just wait right there I’ll be right back.” And with that she was gone again, never even stopping to breathe.

She came back a minute later with her mom, looking decidedly less excited. “Mom says I can’t do your mane and tail all by myself because she thinks I might mess up.”

I smiled and patted her head. “I’m sure she only wants to make sure you do your very best, right Sapphire?”

“Of course dear, I just want to make sure our guests are always given the very best of service.”

The next hour was spent relaxing and trying to follow the directions of a rather excited filly. 
More than once Sapphire stepped in to give advice, but overall I still trusted Geode to do a better job than I would. Not like she could make it worse than it already was…

“So what do you think?” Sapphire pointed a hoof at a wall mirror. I stood up and trotted over, seeing myself for the first time since I left Desert Springs.

My coat was pristinely clean, it almost looked like it was shining. My wings were no longer bandaged and in quite a mess, but I could preen them tonight. My mane and tail however, had never looked so well kept. I still didn’t like my hair being this short, but Geode made it look incredible. It was perfectly cut and cleanly combed, something she used making the silver streaks shine.

“So, do you like it?” Geode asked hopefully. I turned and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“It’s wonderful! Thank you so much this means a lot to me.” Sapphire laughed as I wrapped her filly in a ball of fur and feathers.

“You really are a big softie you know that? All hugs and no bite.” I made sure to pull her into the hug too, just in case. Wouldn’t want anypony to feel left out after all.

After the hugs were over I was left with a decision to make. I didn’t really want to hang around here and seem like a bum, but I didn’t really have anywhere else to go. Fortunately Sapphire seemed to notice the lull in conversation and provided an escape for me. “You know I think some of the kids at the orphanage wanted to ask what it’s like to fly. And who better to tell them than a pegasus?”

How about a gryphon who actually knows how to properly fly? But I was grateful nonetheless for something to do. “Well why not, I don’t have anything else to do anyways. Are you coming Geode?”

She was about to answer in her usual energetic manner, but her mother cut her off. “I’m afraid not, we have a reading lesson to do.” The filly let out an adorable ‘aww’, but Sapphire was not perturbed. “Like it or not I will not have my filly grow up uneducated. Now come along, we have a lot to do before it gets too dark to see your hooves.”

I waved goodbye as they left, and was going to walk back to the front door. But after seeing an open window I decided to take a quick flight. I spread my wings and… immediately started preening them. Sure they weren’t that bad, but now that I knew how they were supposed to look it bothered me whenever they weren’t right.

After depositing the loose feathers I pulled out the window, jumped through the small opening and took to the sky. Okay I was barely level with the surrounding rooftops but I was still off the ground! It was a short flight to the orphanage, and after two knocks on the door I went inside.

Quick was nowhere to be seen, but many of the fillies and colts were playing all over the room. As soon as I walked in I was assaulted by a flurry of questions as they all crowded around me. Seeing a good opportunity, I flapped my wings and took to the air above them. They were all silent for just a moment before Pyrite spoke up.

“That’s so awesome!” Soon they all joined in and I had to fight back a laugh. Something so simple to me was something entirely new to them. Seeing the door was still open I decided to do a few tricks outside. I flew through the doorway over their heads and spun around to face them as they followed me out. 

“You wanna see something cool?” They all cheered as I ascended as high as I dared to go. I’m no Wonderbolt of old Equestria, but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. After I got high enough to look over the whole town, I started doing small circles trying to get a steady rhythm. After I built up some speed I started spiralling downwards towards the kids. 

The lower I got the faster I went, until the world passed around me in a blur. I found one unicorn filly standing apart from the others, perfect. Waiting until the last possible moment I circled around the filly before flying straight up through the circles I was making above her. With a cry she was lifted off the ground several feet in the air, but just before she started falling I caught her on my back. I flew back down to the ground and gently set the unbalanced filly on the ground, but I was soon swarmed by the other kids.

They all asked me rapid questions I couldn’t possibly hope to answer as they surrounded me. But one set of eyes in particular caught my attention. The filly I performed the trick on earlier was again standing apart from the other kids as she watched. But coat was a pristine white, and her mane and tail seemed to be even whiter. But her eyes held no color.

Quick was trotting back from town so I flew to him for an answer. “Hey Quick who is that white filly? I don’t think I’ve seen her before, but she doesn’t seem to get along with the other orphans.”

He didn’t respond at first, and when he did it took me completely by surprise. “You look… You look really… um…” He shook his head and pointedly looked away. “You mean Morning Star?”

Alright then… “I guess, she doesn’t play with the other kids much does she? I haven’t seen her before today.” I looked back to see Graphite keeping the rest of the orphans busy with a game of tag while I talked with Quick. One of these days I’d have to do something for that nice colt, he really does help take care of the others.

Whatever had distracted Quick seemed to wear off as the conversation went on, and he dipped his head with a sigh. “I’ve tried to help her make friends with the others, but it’s harder than you think.”

“Oh, and why’s that? She just not the social type?” I could certainly relate. Albeit not by choice, but I often stayed away from most other ponies when I was a kid. After a while you just get used to being alone most of the time.

He offered a grim smile as we walked towards the filly sitting quietly by herself. Hiis voice dropped to a whisper as we got closer. “Not exactly. The wasteland isn’t exactly kind to the handicapped.”

As we approached the fillies ears perked up and she turned to face us. The unicorn filly smiled brightly when Quick gave her a hug. “Hey sis, I want you to meet somepony. Updraft this is my sister, Morning Star. Morning Star, Updraft. She’s the crazy pegasus everyone’s been talking about.”

I smacked him with a wing at the mention of me being ‘that crazy pegasus’, but gave him a harmless smile. Morning Star nodded and took a step back. “Hello and nice to meet you again. But next time could you not lift me into the air? While I’m sure it would be cool for most ponies, I don’t exactly like moving so fast honestly…”

Oh my goodness. This filly is absolutely adorable, I just wanna squish her in the fluffiest of hugs ever. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, focus Updraft! “Of course, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything, I apologize. And Quick you never told me you had a sister!” I smacked him with a wing again, much to his chagrin.

“Ow knock it off, and you never asked! Anyways Star I’m ready to work on that project whenever you are. Sorry this morning was.. kinda busy.” He laughed nervously and tried not to look in my direction.

She nodded furiously and started walking back into the orphanage. Quick started to follow but I held him back with a hoof. “Hey not trying to be rude or anything, but is she… you know..”

He waved a hoof in dismissal. “Yes, she’s blind. Been that way since birth. Back then dad always hated her for it, said a crippled pony is a dead pony. Well he’s gone now and she’s still going so I guess we know how far that attitude got him.” 

I nodded as we followed after her. But one question plagued my mind as she harmlessly navigated around the other fillies and colts as they were playing tag. “But how does she move around so easily? I mean that’s amazing that she can do that without seeing anything.”

He laughed at what I thought was a legitimate question. “We found a way around that a long time ago. Star may be blind, but she has incredible magical talent. Years ago we stumbled upon an old wagon full of books outside Manehatten. Many of them were burned and damaged pretty bad, but in a locked safe we found several spell books that were mostly undamaged.”

“So whenever time allows I spend time reading the spell books to Star and she makes sense of them. I’ve never seen a pony so dedicated to learning something, it’s really unbelievable honestly.” He sure does like to brag about his sister a lot, then again maybe that’s just normal? “Anyways a while back we found a spell that helps detect magic around the caster. Well everypony has magic in them, it’s just usually hard to notice unless it’s being actively used.”

“After Star messed around with the spell she figured out that it’s not too hard to turn the ‘sensitivity’ of the spell up, so long as you put a buffer between yourself and the feedback to keep the stronger magic sources from overwhelming you. So that’s what she does to ‘see’ ponies around her, without actually seeing them. Make sense?”

“Okay not going to lie, I have no idea what you just said. So I’m just going to nod my head and say yes.” He laughed and motioned me inside after him. We walked through the foyer and down the hall to the last room. Star led the way inside to what was clearly Quick’s bedroom. His shotgun hung from a bedpost in it’s holster, but other than a table and a few chairs the room was otherwise empty. He really didn’t keep much for himself did he?

Quick grabbed a book (Barrier spells of the Solar Guard, Government property! The possession of this book by unauthorized personnel is prohibited and punishable by law.) off of the table and opened to a page bookmarked by a familiar colored feather. I decided not to mention it to him as I tried to hide a blush. 

“Okay let’s see… here we are. The use of portable barriers to protect a moving target. In order to protect VIP’s in transit, it was of the highest priority of the Solar Guard to develop a method of providing adequate protection without slowing the operation down. It was for this reason that  High Mage Buckler sought out to develop a barrier spell that attaches to the target and moves with it. Herein are the notes of High Mage Buckler and the spell matrices regarding this spell.”

Wow. This kind of stuff was leagues ahead of my own understanding of magic, no way I could keep up with this. 



^                ^                ^



“Hey Updraft still with us?”

I blinked my eyes back to wakefulness as I yawned. “Huh? Yeah totally, I was just praying to Celestia…” For some reason Quick didn’t look convinced as he smirked at me.

“Then why could I hear you snoring?” I tried to glare at him, but it probably didn’t have quite the effect I wanted it to have since there was an errant sheet of paper stuck to the side of my face.

Graphite was sitting in a corner of the room laughing as I pawed at the paper to get it off. “Not to mention your wings were all spread out and twitching and stuff. Have a dream about flying?”

I sat up with a huff and pointedly looked away. “I’ll have you know I don’t have to take this kind of abuse, I can leave at any time.” But when I cracked an eye open to look at Quick his smirk turned to a look of concern.

“Updraft you really should probably get some sleep soon. I doubt you got much last night, and you got a job to do tomorrow remember?”

I waved him off with a hoof as I stood to stretch. “Nonsense I feel fine. Besides don’t you need me to do anything around here? I mean since you are lending me a place to stay for the night…”

Graphite looked at me in surprise. “You aren’t going to sleep in Finder’s room again?”

I frowned at no one in particular. “No, Onyx won’t let me. Says I need to sleep in an actual bed and she won’t take no for an answer.”

“And she’s right. Now go get something to eat at Beryl’s and I expect you back here ready for bed in an hour.” Beryl sat on his haunches and crossed his forehooves, allowing for no argument. Well I was going to anyways.

“What are you my foalsitter now? No.”

He gave me a warning look and extended a hoof. “Are you sure? I’ll have to use my secret weapon if you don’t make the right choice here.”

Secret weapon, what is this a game of Ponies and Dragons or something? “I said no. YOu’re not my boss, and I’ll have my bedtime when I want to.” This argument was absolutely ridiculous…

“Very well, you leave me no choice. May Celestia have mercy on your soul…” He stepped aside to reveal Morning Star who had previously been quiet throughout the conversation.

At first I imagined her using some kind of spell to make me do as I’m told or just to outright levitate me to Beryl’s. Instead I was startled when she trotted up to me and stopped just a hooflength away. She took a deep breath before looked up at me with the absolutely most adorable face I’ve ever seen. Her pristinely white coat and mane were accented only by her silvery eyes, which looked at me with the barest hint of tears. “Please listen to my brother? It would make me really happy.”

I died. Quick was a monster releasing this kind of weapon on fellow ponykind! Even during the Great War they never would have stooped so low! I couldn’t stop myself from scooping up the white filly and holding her close, even wrapping my wings around her for maximum cuddles. “I will do anything it takes to keep you from ever crying Star.” 

I heard a muffled ‘yes’ from Quicks direction, and I returned the favor with a wing gesture that an Earth Pony could never repeat or likely understand. Before separating the hug I leaned in and whispered in Star’s ear. “I’m going to go eat at Beryl’s, but I’m probably gonna go sneak into Finer’s room and sleep next to him again okay? But don’t tell Quick yet!”

She laughed and nodded. “You got it. He really can be overprotective sometimes, I know it’s really important for you to be with your friend.”

With one last squeeze we separated and I left them to continue their magic studies. Stepping outside the orphanage I was surprised to see that it was already dark. I really did fall asleep for a while then. 

It was a nice night out at least. Gentle breeze, cool temperature, and nice thermals all around. Would have been a great night for some flying if it wasn’t slightly soiled when I was approached by a familiar reddish-brown mare. She didn’t even say a word as she trotted up to me, stopping abruptly a shoving me back with a hoof.

“You’ve got some serious nerve walking around here like you own the place. This town was perfectly fine before you showed up and started changing things.” She snarled and glared at me.

I had half a mind to tell her how not fine this town was, but I decided against insulting anypony who might be eavesdropping. Instead I offered her a goodnight and walked around her.

The look on her face was priceless before she recovered and rushed to block my path again. “Now you listen here, I’m not gonna let you just ignore me. I want you to get out of our town! What do you have to say to that?”

I shrugged and continued walking around her. “Okay, I’m leaving tomorrow anyways on a job for Vala.” Again it took her a moment to recover, but this time she stepped in front of me and shoved me back. 

Alright now she’s starting to get on my nerves. “No, I want you to leave now.” She smiled and apparently seemed to think she was winning this little competition. 

I grinned and poked her nose with a hoof, obviously not the reaction she was expecting. “I’m afraid I have an appointment with a very sleepy friend. Afraid I’ll have to reschedule our next meeting tomorrow.” I gave my wings a flap to accent my point. After all it was rather silly that she was trying to block a pegasus’ path by standing in front of her.

She screamed and lunged at me, thrashing wildly as she tried to get a good hit in. Years of training as a town guard made it easy for me to get the upper hoof, and with a few quick movements I was on top of the angry mare. I may not be a strong pony, but after I rolled her onto her belly it was easy to keep her pinned under me.

“Listen! I don’t know what it is you have against me, or pegasi for that matter, but I really don’t care. What matters is that you have to look past that for the sake of everypony around you. You have to, for their sake and for yours.”

“Or I can just get rid of you and it won’t be a problem anymore!” Despite her obvious aggression and raised voice, her muscles were growing less tense as she calmed down. “Why should I have to change just for you?”

Sensing an opportunity to gain a little trust, I got off of her and sat down. Well it’s now or never, but if you don’t take chances then you don’t make friends. “When I was a filly, I grew up in a little town a lot like this one. Of course the other kids would tease and make fun of me, but that wasn’t such a big deal. As soon as they needed to reach something high they usually came to me instead of their parents, and any problems they had with me were soon forgotten.”

She laughed mockingly as she stood up beside me. “Yeah sounds like a real hard knock life.” 

I ignored her and continued my story. “The older ponies though, were not so easily changed. Most of them hated me just for my wings, and no matter what I did they still hated me. I tried not to let it get to me, but after I got my Cutie Mark they went too far.”

“I was walking back into town from the field I used to practice my flying. I had just reached the first abandoned house when two earth pony bucks surprised me and pulled me inside. Expecting another beating I immediately tried to find a way out, but they had something much worse in mind. After all I had my Cutie Mark now…”

Her criticizing grin soon turned to horror as I continued my tale. Though it was probably hard to understand my ramblings through the choked sobs as I continued. “I tried to fight them off, I really did. To call someone for help, to do anything I could but they were so much stronger than me and I was just so tired after a long day and-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear about your stupid sob story! So what if you had it rough, we’ve all had it rough! What makes you so different huh? What makes you special?”

“Because I didn’t give up!” She took a step back after my sudden outburst. It took me a moment to catch my breath and collect my thoughts, but when I did it was with renewed confidence. 

“Even though they hurt me and tried to bring me down, I never gave up. I kept fighting every day I lived there and I’m still fighting! I’m still trying to prove that I’m just as much a pony as you even if I have wings on my back. I’m never going to give up on my dreams just because some ponies don’t think I’m worth the dirt on their hooves.”

Now it was my turn to be on the offensive. “But what about you? Didn’t you ever have a dream? Hope that our lives could be better than this?” I asked as I waved a hoof around us. “The wasteland is cruel and horrible. But it doesn’t have to be! We can make it a better place, one pony at a time.”

She scowled and spat at the ground. “Such dreams are for fillies and colts. Grow up like the rest of us and accept life for what it is.”

I rubbed at my red eyes and looked back in the direction of e orphanage. “You ever stop and wonder if the colts and fillies are right? That is adults are the ones being immature and petty?”

That seemed to make her stop and think. After a long silence she stood up and started to walk back into town.

“Wait! I never caught your name, mind if I ask?”

She called back over her shoulder. “I do mind. And it’s Hessonite.”

^^^



> Chapter 12 - Unwelcome Company
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was time. I said goodbye to Finder and Onyx, and was standing outside the bar next to a group of caravan ponies and brahmin. They had gotten into town the night prior, and many of them just slept outside with their goods or scattered around Beryl’s bar. Since he locked up all the booze at night he didn’t seem to mind people taking refuge in his establishment during the cold nights. 

As they looked over their equipment and checked their gear, I turned to my own meagre belongings with a sigh. I didn’t have much, but at least it was all mine. My trusty knife sat in it’s scabbard on my right foreleg, and my saddlebags were tied securely around my midsection. Inside I had my thick coat to help with the high winds, some tools, canteen full of clean water (courtesy of the Oasis) and my old wooden training knife. I took that one out and left it on a box next to Beryl’s doorstep. Not like I needed it anymore, maybe somepony else could use it.

Lastly I had my wingblades. They were far from perfect, especially after the repair job I did on them after the… incident from the other night. But they were definitely still sharp, and I worked hard to ensure they wouldn’t cause me much excess drag while flying. I looked over each individual scale, ensuring everything was secured in place and everything was properly oiled. Satisfied with my checks, I turned to notice a few of the caravan ponies watching me.

“Can I help you?” At my question they all turned back to their work, occasionally glancing back when they thought I wasn’t looking.

“Probably never seen a pegasus before.” A large mare said as she approached from across the street with a bemused smile. She had a cream colored coat and a solid pink mane/tail. Her cutie mark was a shotgun overlaid on a shield.  “Names Coach Gun, and I run this little outfit. I guess you’re the pony Vera sent me?”

We shook hooves and I was glad to see she wasn’t some grumpy old stallion or something. “Yup, name’s Updraft nice to meet you. And yeah I get those kind of looks a lot. Still don’t like it though…”

She laughed and hopped up on her wagon. The others taking that as a silent command that it was time to get moving. “Well if you’re anything like Calamity, I’m sure they’ll warm up to you faster than a hellhound can run.” Knowing just how fast a hellhound can run, I doubted that. “Shame he wandered off, was always nice knowing he was watching my back.”

"Wait you mean the Calamity? Only the greatest caravan guard ever? What happened?" She laughed at the enthusiasm in my voice. That buck was my hero! I always wanted to be just like him ever since I heard stories about him years ago.

"No clue. One day the Stable Dweller shows up in town and next thing I know our best helper headed south to save the world or some shit. Sucks since the bandits and raiders are only getting worse out here."

"Stable Dweller? Who's that?" I asked as I walked beside her wagon. The other guards seemed content to walk in silence, but I was grateful for somepony else to talk to. 

"You don't know? You don't listen to the radio much do you kid?"

"We never get any reception in Desert Springs."

"Well some call her the Lightbringer, but the Stable Dweller is just a pony going around the wasteland doing good deeds and helping ponies. Probably has some kind of hero complex or something."

A few of the guards tuned in from behind us. "I heard the Stable Dweller can kill a whole camp of Raiders with just her mind."

"And I heard the Stable Dweller is ten feet tall; shoots lightning from her eyes, and fireballs from her ass."

Coach rolled her eyes. "If she were that powerful we wouldn't need to guard caravans anymore would we? Don't mind those two they'll believe anything." She sighed and took a drink of water. "But still it's a good thing they're doing. The wasteland needs more ponies like that."

Yes, it does. I always wanted to be that pony, the one to help those who couldn't help themselves. Even if there was nothing they could give to me in return.

I tried asking her about what else was going on in the south, but since she only guards caravans up here she didn't know much more than I did. Gradually we just settled for enjoying the quiet company of other ponies as we continued our walk. And sweet Celestia did we walk, on and on for hours. I had to alternate between walking and flying to keep my hooves off the hot ground. No idea how these ponies did this for a living everyday.

Eventually the Brahmin started acting funny. I soon found out why. We were traveling through some rocky, mountainous terrain. Collapsed buildings mixed in with the rocks to make this a perfect place to ambush caravans, as Coach had warned me.

But the real threat wasn't bandits or raiders, but rather the horde of ghouls that haunted this place. "Alright ponies you know the drill. Stay close, call out targets, and shoot anything that moves. I don't want anypony dying like last time." 

One of the guards in the rear echoed her sentiment. "Poor Troubleshoot..." 

Everything got eerily silent as we entered the makeshift passageway. Both sides of the road were lined with large boulders and damaged buildings. I felt nervous as I walked alongside Coach's wagon, but she seemed almost relaxed. I wonder how many times she's made this trip?

"Left side rooftop." One of the guards called out before firing multiple shots from a pistol. 

Coach Gun frowned as she checked the rounds in her shotgun. Slugs, I noticed. "That was fast. Alright Everypony keep sharp they'll be all over us soon."

The closest guard behind me whispered a quiet prayer to Celestia. Poor buck, he only had a double barrel shotgun to defend himself with. 

It started with a horrific shriek coming from somewhere ahead of us, followed by another. Soon the air was filled with the sound of ghouls screaming as they charged at us. This was so not cool, I didn't sign up to get attacked by a horde of zombie ponies! 

Okay buck this noise, I threw my coat off and took to the air. No way I was just going to wait around until they were all grouped up. I was going to fight this on my own terms- "Ah!" I barely avoided an airborne collision with a pegasus ghoul flying at me. 

Great, I didn't even have that advantage anymore. Oh well the wasteland rarely gives us what we want anyways. I saw three ghouls trying to climb onto a rooftop to jump onto the caravan below. I dive bombed them and tucked my wings in, nearly decapitating two of them and sending the third flailing off the roof before I spread my wings and gained my height advantage again. 

Lazily dodging another pegasus I twisted and sliced one of its wings off with my wingblade as it passed. I made another pass at the ghouls below, this time taking out two in the road in front of the caravan. Another one of them jumped desperately at me as I passed but but dodging these slow moving monstrosities was easy compared to the hellhounds or Big Guns. 

Ceaseless gunfire rang out from the caravan below as they desperately tried to break through the seemingly endless horde of brain eaters. Come on Updraft you gotta get in the game! Those ponies down there need your help. Oh and some fire would be nice right about now too. 

I tried again and again but I just couldn't get my magic to do more than a tiny flame. Stupid magic! Why can't you work when I actually want you to... Grabbing my knife from its sheath I dived for the street below, starting from the back of the caravan to the front I picked off as many ghouls as I could without losing speed. 

We were making good time through the ruins, those crazy Brahmin even helping to trample any of the ghouls that got too close. But the hordes were only getting worse and I wasn't sure how much ammo they had left. I redoubled my efforts, going slower and killing more ghouls with each pass. 

It was really starting to take it's toll on my wings, and my ragged breathing was leaving me on the verge of collapsing. But I couldn't quit now! Not until every one of those ponies was safe and out of this place. I wasn't going to let even a single pony die today if there was anything I could do to stop it.

I never even saw it. I should have but I was too busy thinking about saving the others. Just as I finished another pass and started gaining altitude I felt something heavy hit my side and send me tumbling to the ground. The ghoul pegasus landed beneath me and took the worst of the impact, but I still had the breath knocked out of me.

As I struggled to get back in the air a deep pain erupted in my leg. I collapsed to the ground as the large ghoul started dragging me by my leg towards one of the somewhat intact buildings. Bringing dinner home for the kids huh? 

I kicked it's head with my free leg once, twice, three times. It didn't really let go, so much as it's lower jaw came off as it's brain seeped out of the hole in it's head and onto my legs. Well that was just disgusting. 

After pulling the monster's lower jaw from the deep wound it left, I slowly stood to observe my surroundings. The caravan was already speeding ahead of me, probably never even noticing I face-checked the asphalt back here. 

Ignoring the pain in my leg I took off again just as two more ghouls reached where I was standing. I had to dodge several more airborne ghouls before I caught up with the others, but I was just in time to take down one of the abominations as it tried to jump from a rock onto one of the guards. 

"Fuck!" I heard Coach Gun yell. One of the merchants was being dragged by the leg like I was before, and the guards were just too overwhelmed to help the poor mare. She screamed as another ghoul bit a foreleg and started pulling the other direction. They were trying to tear her apart!

Only one thought went through my mind: that mare had family and friends just like anypony else. She may have been just another wastelander to me, but to somepony else she might be the only reason worth living. She was the main character of her own story, but she was about to die one of the most brutal deaths the wasteland has to offer. And I'll be as damned as the worst raider if I didn't try to stop it.

I rocketed through the sky and landed on a charging ghoul, driving my knife deep into it's head before spinning and slashing at a second ghoul with a wingblade. Not stopping for an instant I pounced on one of the ghouls attacking the mare, driving my knife through it's skull as I bucked another away. 

The second ghoul dropped the mare and charged at the new threat, and with superior strength he shoved me to the ground. The impact caught me by surprise and my knife landed several feet away. I barely held its jaws away from my neck as I struggled to get an angle to use my wingblades. "Run! Get back to the others while you can!"

The mare barely got to her hooves before another ghoul tackled her to the ground, feverishly trying to bite her in the side as she screamed.

"Oh for Celestia's sake!" I twisted and dragged my wing across the ghoul’s neck, the blades cutting through it's rotted flesh like water and nearly decapitating the monster. Shoving it off I rushed over to the mare and kicked the ghoul off of her, putting a hoof on it's chest before cutting it's head clean off.

The ghouls only gave us a few moments rest, but soon there were countless more charging at us. No way I could keep fighting them off so I grabbed the flailing mare in my hooves and took to the air. 

"Put me down! Put me down right now!" She screamed as she squirmed around in my grip. Carrying her heavier weight on my tired wings was already a strain, moving didn't help!

"Stop it! You'll make us both fall! Just close your eyes for a second and-" She fought her way out of my grip and I had to dive to catch her. This time I made her straddle my back as the ground kept getting closer. With one last desperate effort I was able to level out and glide until we caught up with the caravan outside of the ruins. Of course it would have been a lot easier if she hadn't wrapped her hooves around my neck like she wanted to strangle me...

Our landing was less than graceful, with me ending up on my belly while she laid on my head. She immediately crawled off and started hugging the ground. "I'll never leave you again!"

I groaned as I laid on the ground. My everything hurt and I really wanted a nap right about now... 

A familiar hoof was offered to help me up, and I smiled as I graciously accepted it. Coach Gun laughed as she helped dust me off. " In all my years that was about the craziest thing I've ever seen. You got some kind of a death wish or something kid?"

I stood still for a moment as I enjoyed getting to breath again. "I've just seen enough dead ponies for a while."

She sighed as she watched the other mare stand up shakily and try to put on a smile. "I know the feeling. That girl is like family to me, I can't thank you enough for saving her."

I watched as she tried to walk, obviously limping and trying to avoid putting weight on the hind leg that the ghoul bit. "I wasn't fast enough though, if I had been faster she wouldn't be so hurt."

Coach nickered and slapped my head lightly. "Don't be ridiculous that wound will be healed up in a week tops, you did just fine. And what about yourself? After all you're the one who volunteered to brawl it out with a dozen ghouls after all."

I looked down at my battered and bruised body. Thank Celestia I have such a dark coat so most of the injuries don't show. "Eh, I've had worse. Honestly I think a long night's sleep will be enough. And maybe a drink or two..."

She laughed as we made our way over to the others. "I hear that, tell you what when we get to New Appleloosa drinks are on me. How's that sound?"

"I'd say that sounds real good boss." I took up my spot beside her lead wagon as she climbed up and grabbed the brahmin's reigns. 

"Alright everypony we made it this far without losing anypony but we aren't home yet so stay sharp! The slavers all packed up but there's plenty of raiders that took their place!"

We returned to our slow pace as the sun started setting. Coach informed me we would reach New Appleloosa just as night fell. Meaning I still had at least an hour of more boring walking...

"So what did you mean when you said the slavers all left?"

She took a last draw from a cigarette before tossing what was left to the ground. Litter! "Like I said before. One day the Stable-Dweller strides in and takes Calamity on some kind of heroic adventure or some shit. They walked right into old Appleloosa, wiped the floor with the slavers, and rescued a whole bunch of slaves by loading them up on the train. The few slavers left didn't stay around long to see what a bunch of angry wastelanders would do once they realized how vulnerable they were."

"Wow seriously? That sounds like something out a comic book or something..." That mare sure is brave to do something like that, I'd be scared to death to even go within sight of a place like that. 

"I know right? Then just days later Shattered Hoof has some kind of tissy with RedEye's slavers, and with the help of the wasteland heroine not only do they win and start opening up their borders to caravans, but she also killed a dragon! Like a real, fire breathing dragon!"

"That's awesome! I wish I could meet her, I bet she's got a ton of cool stories to tell." Again two of the guards behind us decided to join in our conversation.

"Yeah and I heard she's super hot too."

"Yeah but not as hot as that other mare traveling with her, what I would give for just five minutes alone with a mare like that..."

"Shut-up." Me and Coach said in unison, before a realization struck me. "Wait how do you know what either of them look like? Have you actually met them?"

Coach Gun leaned over and whispered in my ear with a wink. "Imagination is a powerful thing dear." We both shared a laugh at the Bucks' expense as they both tried to stammer out excuses.

We finally reached New Appleloosa, and despite how much I wanted to come here since I was a filly I just couldn't make myself feel very excited. This week was just too much, too fast. As soon as we walked through the gate they closed it behind us. Anypony else will have to stay outside until morning I guess. 

After getting our payment from the three merchants, Coach Gun divided the earnings among us evenly coming out to 250 caps each. With a cheer the other four guards all ran straight to the local bar, while me and Coach followed at a much more leisurely pace.

"So what's on your mind dear? Something's got to be bringing you down, you don't even look happy to be getting such quick money."

I sighed and stopped as we watched a group of kids playing in the street. "That obvious huh? Honestly there's a lot of stuff going on right now and I just don't know what to do next. Everything was fine last week. I had a good job, steady life, and I even made a few friends. I finally felt like I had a real family."

My mind raced and I talked faster as I went on. "Now I don't even have a home, my only friend is really sick, I'm constantly fighting for my life against raiders and slavers and hellhounds and I don't know what to do next and 
apparently I'll never even get to have kids anymore and-"

My mind came to a halt when Coach slapped my face hard. "Simmer down Sally. Now quit crying and start over." Had I been crying? Sweet Celestia I'm a wreck aren't I?

"I'm sorry... I..."

She patted me on the back. "Listen how about you tell me about it over a drink? Sounds like you could use one."

I wiped away my tears with a hoof and rubbed my cheek where she hit me. (That hurt!) "Yeah, I would like that."


^		^		^



"Wow. Sounds like you're a pony with a problem." Coach Gun took a long draught of her hard cider before slamming the empty glass down. I had barely touched mine, being too busy telling her about my life after leaving home.

"Just one? I figured my head was more screwed up than that judging from the nightmares I've been having." I said with a mirthless smile.

"Okay so I'm sure you've got a whole bunch of problems, but luckily for you I know exactly how to solve them." She said with a smile as she waved the bartender down and ordered another drink.

I perked my ears and spun in my barstool (these were so cool!) to face her. "Really? You can help me?"

"Sure can.” She adopted a smile as she spun around and leaned her back against the bar. "Tell me, when's the last time you had a nice roll in the hay huh?"

My gears in my head ground to a halt as I tried to process what she just said. Did... did she really just ask that? "Beg your pardon?"

"You know, the ol' in and out, bacon makin', playing catch, barneymugging, coitus..." 

My face turned more red with each new phrase... "Okay I get it you can stop with the gross analogies already. Don't you think that's kind of a personal question?"

She laughed and punched my shoulder. "Well I should hope it isn't too public. Come on a young hot mare like you? I bet you have to fight the stallions off with a stick am I right?"

"Well actually... um... I've never actually... you know..."

"You've never what? Wait... You mean you're still a-"

"Shh!" I grabbed her and shoved a hoof over her mouth. "You don't have to tell the whole world!" I whispered in her ear. I was already embarrassed enough just talking about this with one stranger, I didn't need everypony in the whole bar to know.

She laughed and pushed my hoof away. "Wow I just can't believe it. How old are you?"

I shrunk in my seat as my face burned. "Twenty... Almost twenty one."

She gasped dramatically before clapping her hooves together. "Right! We'll just have to fix that won't we? So see any bucks you like? Or maybe ponies of a different sort?" She asked with a wink as she looked around the bar.

"No, I don't." I all but buried my face under my hooves on the bar. "And there's actually a...  a reason why I haven't... you know..."

She tilted her head before a realization struck her. "Oh so you’re one of those old fashioned fillies saving yourself for that very special somepony huh? That's cool."

She sat there with a grin that told me this conversation probably wasn't over yet. But after almost a minute passed and she started talking to other ponies too quietly to hear over the bar’s commotion, I finally relaxed enough to sit up and take a sip of hard cider. The bartender makes it himself! "So are mares off limits too?"

I nearly choked on my drink! Please tell me she's not implying what I think she is. "Look I'm flattered and all but that's just not my thing." After a moment a slapped my forehead with a hoof. "I mean if that's what you're into I wasn't trying to offend you or anything I think ponies should get to make their own choices and I'll just shut up now..."

The further I bumbled through my apology the more I felt like an idiot. Good job Updraft you only know one pony in this whole place and you probably just offended her. 

Rather than the angry or snide comment I expected she instead broke out laughing. "You thought I was offering? Sorry dear but you're a little young for me." 

"Oh. Well then if I find a hole to bury myself in will you promise to build a house on top to make sure I'll stop making myself look like an idiot?" My fall was complete. I don't think this situation could be any worse.

"I might be able to help." Please no. Please in the name of all that is holy let that mare's silky smooth voice be talking to somepony else. "I'm not much into dark coats, those ponies usually tend to be pretty depressing. But for a cute pegasus like you I can make an exception." 

I felt hooves drape over my shoulders as somepony leaned against my back. I'm doomed. "I don't suppose there's any way I can talk my way out of this is there?" 

Coach Gun grinned and patted me on the head. "Nope I already paid her. You two kids have fun now." She said over her shoulder as she walked across the bar to sit with the other guards from the caravan.

I finally built up the courage to turn around and look at my tormentor. She was a little older than me with a blonde coat and red mane with a touch of pink. Sweet Celestia where did she even find lace stockings?

"Relax dear once we get to my room all you have to do is lay back and enjoy the fun. I promise you won't regret it."

I blushed hotly as I climbed down from my seat and grabbed my bags. "Go easy on me? It's my first time to... you know..."

A wicked grin crept onto her muzzle as she leaned in and whispered in my ear. "No promises." 

Oh my.



^		^		^


I lazily cracked my eyes open in the dark, dusty room. I could see daylight filtering in through a window, but somepony had hastily nailed a blanket to the wall to cover it up as much as possible. With a yawn I sat up and stretched my legs and wings.

I felt good. Granted it was probably as much to do with the sleep I got as it did with other... activities from last night. But maybe Coach Gun was right, maybe I really should loosen up a little.

I felt somepony stirring in the bed next to me as she wiggled until her head appeared from under the blanket. "Morning sleepy head, you have a good time last night?" 

I couldn't help but blush a little as I recalled last nights... exercise. "Umm yeah I guess you could say that..."

She laughed and sat up in the bed with me. "Good. I always try my best when it's a pony's first time. Try to make it at least a little special."

"So is this what you do for a living? Or..." Celestia this was awkward. But I didn't feel like getting up yet and if we didn't talk about something I feel like she'd start getting other ideas on how to pass some time.

"Not really, only for special cases. I usually make my caps from working in the bar downstairs, but this is a good way to make some extra caps here and there. Plus I always love seeing faces like the one you made last night when I-"

"Okay well I think I'd best get going since the sun is up and everything. Thanks for the warm bed and all but I gotta go now bye!" I was already walking out the door with my things by the time I finished talking.

I heard her laughing over my shoulder. "You're cute when you're nervous, come back and see for some more fun, on the house of course."

Run while you can Updraft. I made my way around the indoor balcony and trotted down the stairs to the bar. To my surprise there were quite a lot of ponies eating food and drinking alcohol already. I guess when you live the life of a wanderer you don't live by much of a schedule.

I found a spot to stand at one end of the bar and waved down the bartender. After going over the options I decided to have some kind of apple dish they made locally. I couldn't help but ask where they get the apples from.

"Don't worry about it." He said before walking off to tend to another customer. Well now I am worried...

I took off my leather coat and stuffed it in my bags before stretching my wings and legs. Most of these ponies seemed used to seeing a pegasus so I wasn't too worried. I still got plenty of odd looks and a few scowls, but at least nopony was threatening to throw me out of the bar yet! 

I was just about to hop up onto an empty seat and get comfortable when I felt something pull on my ear. Hard!

"Get over here right now! We need to have a word." It was a mare's voice coming from across the bar.

"Ow, ow, ow! Cut it out I'm coming!" Whoever it was didn't listen, much to the amusement of several of the bar's patrons as I was dragged along the floor. After scrambling across the whole room and feeling like a filly being scolded, I finally arrived at the hooves of... Smiles! Oh dear...

"Alright pegasus you have exactly ten seconds to tell me why you didn't tell me who you were back then or else I'll have to engage in aggressive negotiations."

Is she crazy? Okay dumb question... "What are you talking about? I did tell you my name!"

"Aggressive Negotiations it is!" She yelled excitedly and pulled me out of the bar by my tail. 

"That wasn't even ten seconds. And let me go you maniac!" 

She grinned and looked me in the eyes. "No, the Maneiac was a comic book villain from old Equestria. My name is Smiles, like I told you before. Now tell me who the fuck you are, or do you think you can actually fight me and win?"

Seriously what is with this pony? "I already told you! My name's Updraft and I'm a town guard for-" 

"Wrong." She caught me off guard by levitating me up and shoving my head into a barrel full of water. I felt her press her weight against me as she held my head under with her hooves. "Come on you really expect me to believe you're just an average guard? Who are you working for!?"

She pulled my head up just long enough for me to take a breath before she shoved it back under. "Is it the Enclave? Talons? Some special branch from the Steel Rangers?" She paused a moment and casually rested a hoof on my head. "It's not RedEye is it? Or maybe you're just some kind of genetic freak from the Hoof? Not the craziest thing I've seen."

Enough! I shoved her off and spun around, knocking the barrel over in the process. "That's it! I'm not enclave, I'm not some sort of secret super soldier, and I'm not a genetic freak! I'm just a pony trying to mind her own business and you're really starting to piss me off!"

She stared at me for a few moments before she started giggling uncontrollably. "Oh wow the rumors are true! You really do heat up when you're angry."

What.

I looked back at my wings and sure enough the water on them was floating off as steam... Oh dear. I was suddenly becoming very aware of the attention we were getting. A small crowd had gathered around us, some cheering us on to keep fighting.

"Who's the two crazy mares?"

"Wanderers that came in last night."

"They fighting over a stallion or something?"

"Nah I bet it's money."

"No way it's definitely a stallion. And the wet pegasus looks pretty hot too."

"Yeah but I bet the crazy one is better in bed."

Okay now I was mad for a different reason. Seriously did these ponies have nothing better to do than watch two strangers fight in the street? Not to mention they were thinking about... those kinds of things while they watched.

A mare walked over to the two bucks and slapped one on the cheek. "Don't you start eyeing other mares like I'm not here. Besides don't you know who those two are? Red talks about Smiles all the time, and he was talking about that pegasus mare all morning!"

The buck she slapped scowled. "I can't believe you actually listen to that crazy old guy instead of the DJ. Half the time he makes that stuff up you know..."

"You can't prove that, besides at least I know who old Red is. Nopony even knows who or where the DJ is so he could be lying too."

"Alright break it up everypony. What's the problem here?" An older buck shouted as he and two others dispersed the crowd. They all wore leather armor and had battle saddles in fairly good condition. I noticed one of them seemed to be brandishing his pristinely cleaned battle saddle quite proudly. 

Before I could answer him Smiles intervened and put a hoof around my neck. "Oh it was nothing really just a friendly tussle between two old friends. Isn't that right Updraft?" I opened my mouth to disagree but the cold look she gave me murdered that little idea. I nodded my head fervently and put on a fake smile as the guards eye us suspiciously.

"Uh-huh. Well don't let me catch you two causing any more trouble or you'll both be spending a night in the hole."

Smiles stood up straight and with a serious face she saluted him. "Yes sir, officer sir." I simply couldn't have face-hoofed hard enough...

The older buck snorted and turned to leave. "I'm too old for this shit."

"Come on dad just remember, you're only as old as you think you are. Old age is just a state of mind!" One of the younger guards said cheerfully.

"Shut up and go find me a drink." The young buck sighed but with a smile he trotted into the bar without a word.

"So new best friend..." She wrapped a hoof around my neck again and adopted a big grin. "You wanna do a favor for me?"

"Nuh-uh, no way I'm going to do some kind of ridiculous favor for a crazy pony who just tried to drown me." I shoved her off and took a few cautionary steps back. 

"Relax you'll get paid... and quite a lot too. Plus you'll get to kill a bunch of feral ghoulies! That's always fun right?" 

"The answer is still no, go find someone else please." And with that I turned tail and walked back into the bar. Of course she wouldn't give up so easily, as soon as I sat back down at the bar she sat next to me. 

"Oh come on, please? I promise I'll make it worthwhile. Who knows if you do a good enough job I may have more work for you later too." The nice bartender brought me my breakfast with a sympathetic smile. I paid him six caps and smiled back. 

"If I don't want to work for you now, what makes you think I would want to work for you later too?" I asked as I took a bite of the apple whatever-this-was. It wasn't anything too special, but it was a good deal for six caps.

"You're really starting to make me feel a little violent you know that? Alright fine what's it going to take to make you do this for me?"

Okay wow she was going to go that low just for my help? This must be pretty important to her. Well now I feel like a jerk, but she needs to stop pushing people around like she can do whatever she wants. 

"Alright fine I'll do it, but on one condition. Get me a new knife to replace the one I lost in my last fight and I'll help you."

"Done." She grinned and slammed a knife onto the bartop. I blinked before picking it up in my hooves. After a brief examination I gently set it back on the bar and slid it back to her.

"Nope I want a good one like the one I lost. That flimsy piece of scrap isn't worth the effort it would take to keep it sharp." I went back to eating my breakfast as she scowled and dug through her bags looking for another knife. By the time she gave up I had already finished my food and was getting bored.

"Alright fine we'll go to the store and I'll buy you whatever kind of knife you want. I need to get more bullets anyways." She hopped off her stool and tapped her hoof impatiently as I slowly climbed out of mine and stretched. I took a quick look in my bags and did an inventory check, then put my leather coat back on.

She sighed as I dusted my bags off and slung them over my back, securing the straps tightly. Deliberately taking as long to do each step as possible. "You know when we met awhile back, I didn't know you were such a bitch."

I grinned and sauntered to the door. "Well you know what they say about payback..."


^		^		^


"What do you mean it's closed?!"

"I mean what I said missy. Ol' Ditzy had an important delivery to make so she closed up shop and took her gal with her. Ya'll just have to wait till she gets back." The younger guard from before was sitting casually by the door of the local shop, it's name 'Absoluely Everything' was proudly proclaimed in big block letters. 

"Well let me in so I can trade with you and you can give her the caps later or something."

"It doesn't work like that. Besides it's not like I work for her or something, I was just sitting here in a shady spot."

"Oh darn, looks like I won't be going with you on your trip. A shame too I was so looking forward to it..."

"Oh come on! Somebody has to be selling shit around here right? No way that ghoul is the only one with a store here." Smiles was practically begging at this point, she really must want me to go on this trip with her.

I really didn't like the tone she took when she said 'that ghoul', and as the guard stood up and took a more defensive stance I figured he didn't either. "Like I said before miss, you'll just have to come back around when ol' Ditsy is back in town. And I'd suggest doing it somewhere else."

I had already started walking off at this point, and Smiles scrambled after me to catch up. "Hey wait we can talk about this right? There's got to be something else you want besides knives right? How about a really nice gun?" 

"Nope." I said bluntly and continued walking down the main street of the town. There's supposed to be a clinic around here somewhere...

"Tell you what, if you help me out I'll give you a quarter of the profit of what we find down there." She stepped in front of me and put on a big smile. At my sour look she changed her tactic and started pouting. "Okay fine. Half?"

"Down... there? Definitely nope, as much as I hate those clouds I really don't want the ceiling getting any shorter. If it's in some kind of tunnel then you can forget about it." I walked around her as I spotted the clinic. 

"Okay fine!" She said with an dramatic sigh as she grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me back around to face her. "You're in."

"Pardon?" This conversation just got even more confusing. Not surprising considering the crazy pony I'm talking to.

"Look it's pretty obvious you're looking for something to do. What happened to your friend?" Okay that was a low blow, I don't think she has the right to ask about that... "If you do this for me, I'll get you into The Shadow of Light."

Well that was unexpected. Sure it sounded interesting enough to check it out, but I needed some more information first. "And what makes you think I would want to join your little club?"

She laughed and gave me a knowing smile. "Little club? Girl you have no idea. Why wouldn't somepony want to join up with us? For starters it's a good cause, since I know you like to be a hero of something. But more importantly, it's fun, you get to play with all kinds of fun toys like this armor, plus it's some of the best money you'll find in the wasteland!"

Airem's words flashed through my mind. Some ponies do it more for the money than for the good they are doing. "Congratulations you're a salespony." I sighed and continued walking back to the clinic. "Okay I'll come with you, and I'll think about joining you guys. But I still expect at least a quarter of the profit from what we find down there." I had a good idea on where that money can be used. 

"Deal." She answered immediately as we stepped into the local clinic. Overall it had a more professional aesthetic than the one in Nowhere. No offense to Onyx, but those pre-war mattresses are hardly sterile. But this place had several medical beds, at least two secondary rooms, and several medical boxes lining one of the walls.

An older mare trotted out from one of the other rooms at the sound of our arrival. "Welcome! My name is Candi, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well I can think of a few things..." Smiles said with a sultry voice. I swatted her with my tail and tried to not think about last night's activities involving more participant's. 

"Yes I was just hoping to purchase some medical supplies for a trip."

"Well you're in luck I just refreshed most of my stock. Come back here and we'll see what you need."


^		^		^


We walked along an old dirt path as we listened to the radio in Smiles' armor. After some bargaining I managed to buy four healing potions from Candi for one-hundred and twenty caps. I thought I did pretty well but Smiles says I still got ripped off. I restrained myself from mentioning how much I was able to get out of this deal instead of a single knife or gun she originally offered.

She also insisted I buy RadAway just in case, but I managed to convince her I didn't need it without telling her why. As we walked the radio continued to play some of the most depressing music I'd ever heard.

I try so hard to walk that path, to come on home to you;
But every time I see your face, duty calls! I don't know what to do.
I hear your cries from these battle lines, in my sleep I see your tears.
Even in this horrid war, the memory of your smile wipes away my fears.

Oh for Celestia's sake. "Can you turn that off or something? It's only making me feel even more depressed."

Smiles shrugged. "I actually like that song but whatever. Red's probably on the radio by now anyways." She stopped and fiddled with the armor on her left leg. It had a screen resembling a small terminal, and she tapped away at it until her radio changed stations. A much different tune filled the air as we began walking again. 

I'mma rockin', I'mma rollin', I got a fire in my soul tonight! I'mma rockin', I'mma rollin', we're gonna start this party a'right!

The song ended abruptly, replaced by the aged voice of a stallion. Despite the obvious hoarseness of his voice he clearly wore his age well. "Hell yeah now that's some music!" A mare's voice could barely be heard in the background. "Watch my language? Hogwash it's my radio station I'll say what I want to say!"


“Now where was I? Oh right, time for some news!” Sounds of shuffling papers could be heard as he cleared his throat. “Now ya’ll remember me tellin’ that story about the Stable Dweller right? Well if not I’m sure you heard it from that DJPon3 buck.”

“Anyways that little gal is at it again! And isn’t she just full of surprises. Now the first time I told you about her adventures, she was busy kicking slaver flank out there at Appleloosa. Next she went and sent a bunch of RedEye’s minions packing at Shattered Hoof, helping out some raiders and killing a dragon in the process. Well at the time I wasn’t too sure about the idea of helping raiders, even if it meant RedEye gets a few less slaves.”

“Well don’t you worry none cause Grandpa just got the rest of the story about what all went down all those days ago. Turns out the raiders of Shattered Hoof were being manipulated by one mister Topaz, also known as the giant dragon that the Stable Dweller killed. Turns out he was gonna eat them all up for a tasty snack. Now that he’s out of the picture a Talon by the name of Grimfeathers is running the place and plans to make some big changes. Even opening up for trade, and boy do they have gems to trade.”

“‘But Grandpa, what did that fearless filly do next?’ I hear you ask? Well last word I got was that she was heading towards Manehatten to see that crazy DJ-PON3 up in his big tower. But with her record no telling what might happen when she sees all those hoity toity ponies in there, hoarding all that safety. Well that’s all the news I have for now kiddies, let’s get right back into some of that good old music with one of the classics. It’s Hoovesiana Red and his hit blues single, Red's Dream.”

“It was a dream, dream I had last night. Dreamed I went to Canterlot, set the whole nation right…” The slow paced song continued and sounded almost lacking, like it wasn’t complete yet. But maybe it’s simplicity is what made it so enjoyable. I found myself nodding my head to the music as I thought about the news ‘grandpa’ had mentioned. 

This Stable Dweller was really working hard, really trying to make a difference in the wasteland. And I know what Airem says is true, that even the little things we do can make a big difference. But I just wish I could be there with her, fighting dragons and defying RedEye. Fighting monsters and armies that most ponies can’t stand up against. Instead of looking through a radioactive crater for scrap.

Which I couldn’t even do that, so maybe it’s better that I’m here instead of being on some crazy adventure to save the wasteland. 

“We’re here, one ancient factory dead ahead.” Smiles beamed as she saved me from my own thoughts. As we crested a small hill a large factory came into view. “Robronco Research and Storage facility. Placed in the middle of nowhere to hopefully keep spies out and put is beneath the notice of zebra infiltrators. Guess it worked well enough since it’s still standing.”

I looked over the large building and it’s many, many defenses. It was surrounded by a large fence with an empty skywagon lot outside. Along the rooftop were several machine gun turrets, and patrolling around its exterior were a dozen protectaponies with magical energy weapons. If that’s what was on the outside, what kind of security did they have inside the factory?

“What exactly are we here for anyways? That’s a lot of stuff to fight through down there, is it really worth it, whatever it is?”

She rolled her eyes and hopped onto a rock. “Of course it is! I wouldn’t have walked all the way out here if it wasn’t. Now come on it’s time to party!” She loaded a fresh magazine into a combat rifle with her magic and charged blindly down the hill. I really should find less crazy ponies to be around…

“Well might as well get to it, what’s the worst that could happen?”